Champion of the Guardians
by Commander Kitsune
Summary: After experiencing a very bad day, my PS2 transfers my body and mind into the world of Final Fantasy VIII. With new friends, new GFs and new outcomes, I make my mark on the world of Final Fantasy VIII. SI, OCxShiva, SquallxRinoa. Currently on Book 1.
1. Chapter 1: Gotta Love Customisation

**Standard Issue Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII is the property of SquareEnix. Naruto is the property of Shouen Jump. Dragon Ball Z is the property of Akira Toriyama. All characters, locations, and concepts except for original creations belong to them. This disclaimer will not be repeated.**

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**Champion of the Guardians**

**Book 1: The First Sorcerer**

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**Chapter 1: Gotta Love Customisation**

I just had the most fucked up day in my life. For those of you reading this, my life is probably sugar-coated compared to yours, but, what the hell. I'm normally a very easy going guy, but even I have my limits. Going from getting up late due to studying late the night before, failing the exam that you were studying for, then be late for work, again, and getting your ass fired because of it and then realising you have to go back to government benefits _again_ to try and find work _again_. Then coming back to realise that you needed to take back several videos that were a few days overdue and you're too broke to catch a bus to the store. Then you spot _three_ bills that need to be paid by the end of the week and its Friday. That sums up my day. Go on, say it. My day is one of the worst.

Of course Naruto has had it worse than me so it's hard to feel sorry for myself. And all the kids more unfortunate than me in the world makes it almost impossible for me. But somehow I manage. I lay on my bed, feeling sorry for myself. Yeah, call me ungrateful and all the rest. At that moment those words would fall on deaf ears.

Deciding that it would be better to remove said anguish at the moment; to escape the harsh reality I live in, I sit up on my bed and look at my 46 inch LCD TV. I know I should sell it, but I bought it for gaming and so that is what I'll be using it for. I know what you're thinking. You're probably thinking 'Where'd he get the money for that?' Well I got some inheritance money awhile back worth to about ten grand. So I used said money to buy the TV, PS2, PS3, X-Box 360 and a nice pile of anime, mostly Dragon Ball Z, Naruto and a few other series.

Well I guess I should introduce myself. My name's Josh Ryu Kitsune and I'm 22 years old. My second and last name used to be Cade Anthony but I never really liked those names. After I got the money I changed them to the Japanese translations of my favourite animals; foxes and dragons.

My likes are to listen to music, hang out with my friends, foxes, dragons, anime, good food and travelling. Thanks to the second last one I'm slightly chubby. My dislikes are people who disrespect my friends, spiders, snakes, pumpkin and arrogant people. My hobbies are sword fighting, enjoying sunsets and thunderstorms, and playing video games. And my dream for the future is to become a rare sword collector.

Now, back to what I'm doing; relieving stress. Wait, that's not right; if I wanted to relieve stress I would play Burnout: Paradise. No, this was more a need to 'escape reality without using you're imagination much' and 'I need to experience a story because I feel very lonely'. Books require you to use your imagination a little more than when you are playing an RPG or Role Playing Game. Not that I don't like reading, not at all. I just feel lazy right now. Anyways, who cares! And since I don't have a girlfriend I can hold on to so the hole in my heart will disappear, I have to go with alternative ways of patching up the hole for a few seconds. Yeah, I sound pathetic, but being alone changes you. Especially when you know what it was like to have someone to love. I did. Least that's what I thought at the time. But I'm getting off track.

I reached for my PS2, it was the old bulky version, and opened the lid. Seeing something that I didn't want to play, an earlier version of Burnout, I removed the disk and fumbled in my bookshelf for the cover. Finding it I started the task of choosing what to play. 'Something in the good old Final Fantasy series,' I thought as I sorted through all the games to pick out all the FF games I had. I had VII, VIII, IX, X, X-2, XII, XIII and Dirge of Cerberus. I didn't have the internet so I couldn't use XI on the computer and besides, that one doesn't seem right. An FF game shouldn't be a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game or MMORPG for short; maybe with just another player or three, not thousands. Yeah, call me old-fashioned.

I decided to go with something I hadn't played in a while. Final Fantasy VIII it is then! I opened the case and popped the first disk into the drive and closed the lid. I then turned on the TV and set it to the right channel. "Ah, my PlayStation 2, my dear electronic friend that provides me with many hours of entertainment," I said as I turned on the PlayStation 2. I skipped the opening FMV before the New Game/Load Game screen. I chose to go with New Game. The prologue cut scene comes on, starting with the water and the beginning of one of the best songs from the whole game, Liberi Fatali. I just love choir music. If only the song was a hybrid of choir and rock, like One Winged Angel in FF7: Advent Children Complete.

I watched the beautiful scene between a few of the main characters. "Ah, the ballad of Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly. I wish I was in it. Then I'd soften up Squall and totally kick Ultimecia's ass! And Rinoa sucks." I said passionately as the sequence had almost finished. It's true, Rinoa is a wuss, always hanging on to Squall as if she's an eight year old. Even if she's kinda cute.

But then the whole place darkened. Not just the screen, but my whole room darkened to black.

At first I thought it was just a blackout but another thought stamped the first out. The first reason was that the room had darkened gradually. A blackout doesn't do that. Then I felt myself float, yes that's right, float, out of my bed.

"Oh shit! What the fuck is going on?" I shouted out into the black void that was in front of me, for it looked like that. Then I start feeling funny, kind of like I'm about to faint. I close my eyes briefly, and open them when I start feeling wind whooshing past me. I'm blasting down a tunnel that appears to be made of pictures of Squall, Riona, Zell, Quistis, Selphie, Irvine and all the other characters. Looking at one of the pics (Squall and the others were on a train) and realised that they didn't look like pixelated dolls but like real people.

"What the hell… is going on?" I said as I came to the end of the tunnel. I come face to face with a rectangular blue semi transparent shape roughly the size of my TV. Behind it seemed to be the words 'FINAL FANTASY VIII' Then characters and words formed on the screen. I read some of them out.

"Name… Nickname… Age…? Height…? What is this?" I said before I realised how stupid that question sounded. It seemed to be some sort of Character Customisation screen. But why? It didn't seem like anything more was going to happen so I thought 'What the hell. I'm dreaming anyways.'

The first option was name. Next to the text box was the words, 'Say Name and then speak your name.' "OK, whatever. Name: Josh Ryu Kitsune." I said clearly. The text box glowed and them my name appeared in the box. I then continued. Soon all the details were in the boxes. It went like this.

* * *

Name: Josh Ryu Kitsune

Nickname: Josh

Age: 23

Height: 6 foot

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I then saw a small light blue square pulsing in the bottom right corner. I figured that was the next button and so I pressed it. My finger touched something that felt like glass but the next screen showed. This looked like it was the cosmetics and physical changes tab. I then input all the details.

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Skin Colour: Light tan

Hair Colour: Black with gold streaks

Hair Style: A ponytail that reaches down to my lower back in thick spiky locks. The top and fringe area is short and spiky. The gold dye streaks are in the tail only.

Eye Colour: Violet

Tattoos: A pair of black traced angel wings on back

Additional Extras: Angel Wings that can appear and disappear at will

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There were sliders for body mass and muscle mass with small pictures to show what it looked like. I aligned the sliders so I looked buff, but not like a bodybuilder. As if I had the body and muscles of a ninja. The next tab was clothes. I went through it all, looking at the pictures of the items. I settled on an outfit similar to what Ragna wore in BlazBlue. A black shirt covered my torso with a black leather trench coat over the top. The coat had a gold belt wrapping around my upper back, two belts wrapped around my waist and two gold straps connecting the two sides just above the belts, clipped together with gold clips. There were several gold metal plates on the coat, two on each arm and two on each side of the lower sides. The coat also had a high collar. The pants were a pair of slightly loose cargo pants with many pockets. Instead of a belt, I had a strip of tough but flexible piece of felt, like an obi sash that was coloured gold. On the back of the coat was a beautiful and elegant gold fox. The design was exquisite, clearly made by a master of art; the very essence of beauty. A pair of black boots similar to Cloud's boots in FF7: AC. Slipped onto my hands were tight black leather gloves. I included a necklace like Vincent Valentine's but instead of a Cerberus dog, it's a fox.

Now done with the new look, I saw myself in a projection with all the changes I made so far. Wow… Who's that handsome demon? This was turning out to be a great dream. The next tab was for weapons. It seemed like I could choose a Primary and a Secondary weapon. So for primary I chose a Zweihander that was sort of a hybrid between Zabuza's Kubikiri Houchou and Cloud's Buster sword. The overall length of the sword including the handle was the same as Kubikiri Houchou but the blade itself was the same as the Buster Sword. And the blade itself wasn't grey steel colour but was ebony black. Along the blade was a beautiful etching of an elegant red nine-tailed fox that almost covered the entire length. On the opposite side was a blue Japanese style dragon. Both etchings were excellent, as if only a master were capable of such art. My Secondary weapons were two handguns that were almost exact replicas of the guns wielded by Dante in Devil May Cry except for the pictures on the handles and the barrels were slightly longer. The barrel of the first gun was white, while the handle was light grey. The trigger and hammer were gold. And written on the sides of the gun, there were the words 'Ascend Into Heaven' in azure blue Calligraph421 BT font letters. The barrel of the second gun was black, while the handle was dark grey. The trigger and hammer were gold like the opposite gun. The text on the sides of this gun was 'Descend Into Hell' in the same style as the brother gun, only it was in blood red. I was able to name my weapons as well. I smiled as I supplied the info.

Primary Weapon's Name: Ragnarok

Secondary Weapon's Name: White - Oathkeeper; Black - Oblivion

Satisfied I clicked the next button. Items. In here you could choose what starter kit to use. The Beginner Kit consisted of 20 health potions; 10 of each status remover medicine like Eye Drops, Antidotes and the like; 5 Remedies and 5 Phoenix Downs. The Advanced Kit was, in the same order, 10, 5, 3, 3. The Expert Kit got 5, 3 and no Remedies or Phoenix Downs. And the Master Kit got nothing. I chose the Advanced Kit. I don't know why.

Next were skills. I could choose up to 4 skills. Underneath were the Limit Break and Special Skills. I could choose 3 of these.

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First: Advanced skills in martial arts

Second: Master skills with a Zweihander sword

Third: Master skills with handguns

Fourth: Able to understand and play any musical instrument by picking it up

Special Skills:

First: Supersonic flying capability with the angel wings

Second: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu

Third: Henge no Jutsu

**(An: Limit Breaks will be seen throughout the story, to be kept as a surprise.)**

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Underneath this is what looks like a drop down menu. It was labelled **Limit Break Type**. I assume it's on what circumstances is the Limit break active. I scroll through the options and found '1/40 attacks'. I deducted that I could initiate my Limit Break every one in forty attacks. Fair enough.

After this was Special Item. After thinking about this I thought of a good one. A physical projector that could create most, if not all, musical instruments ever made. This also came with a laptop so I could select which instrument to create. This would be useful for me to play songs. I was starting to speculate that this dream was going in the direction of me being inserted into the world of FF VIII. If so then I'll be the band that plays at the inauguration party for the new SeeD's and also for the Garden Festival. I'll play better songs than that annoying song at the ball that just loops over and over. Same for the Garden Festival.

The next screen was called Character Background. I guessed that this was how I was going to be inserted. A description was already there. No doubt based off what I had filled in.

'Character Josh has completed his SeeD training at Galbadia Garden. He has been transferred to Balamb Garden to enter the SeeD Exam and to play at the inauguration. He will be under the authority of Balamb Garden from now on.'

"Sound's about right," I said as I pressed the next button, only to see in big letters the word 'PROCEED?' with underneath 'YES or NO'. 'This is it,' I think as I say clearly "Yes."

As soon as I said my answer I heard the music song 'Starting Up'. Lights flash around me, getting steadily brighter and brighter until all becomes white. I shut my eyes to keep myself from being blind. For a few seconds it's like this. I then feel myself falling slowly backwards until I land softly against something soft, like grass.

I open my eyes to see the bluest sky I had ever seen. Since I've lived in the city most of my life I know that you only see skies this blue in the country. However this sky was even bluer than that. Soft white clouds pass overhead, lightly dancing on the wind and sunshine. I move my head to the side to see that I really am lying on grass. And this grass is emerald green, as if it had plenty of water to grow with. A few white flowers swayed with the grass in the soft wind. I look back to the sky. "I think I'll stay here a little longer," I mumble whilst looking at the sky. That is, until someone's head blocks my view.

"Hi," he said. I blink before siting up to look at him. He seemed younger than me but not by much. 20 maybe? His cargos were black and his shirt was white. He had bright sky blue hair, with white streaks through it, which was long and tied in a loose ponytail. On the shirt was the PlayStation logo.

"Uh… hi," I answer, realising I had been looking him over for several seconds. I stood up and wobbled a bit, before becoming steady.

"Ho, watch out. The first step is always a bit woozy," the guy said in a young bright warm voice, probably referring to my instability. "You'll feel better soon."

"Um… not to be rude but, who are you?" I asked. I had never seen this guy before in my life, and yet I felt a strong familiarity with him.

The blue haired kid smiled. "I'm you're PS2."

I blinked, and then I blinked again. "You're my PS2?" I ask incredulously. Such a thing was mind-boggling.

"Hard to believe, eh?" he says, still smiling. I eventually calm down enough to ask him if I'm dreaming. "No, you aren't."

"Whoa…" I breathe out and fall back on my bum. He, my PS2, sits down next to me. "Easy now, take a deep breath," he says in a calm voice, as if he expected me to act like this. I do as he says and start to feel better. I then turn to him and ask the loudest question that's yelling in my mind. "Why?"

He sighed. "Well I've been watching you for a while. And over the years I've grown quite attached to you. And then when you bought that PS3 I thought you were going to throw me out. I was dreading that. But you held on to me, for what ever reason. I wanted to thank you for that. And so, here you are." He then looks at me, wondering what my reply would be.

"Oh," was all I said. It was all I could say. I would say that there was a second reason that I held onto the PS2, that my PS3 couldn't play the old games, but thought that would be inappropriate. "Well thanks, really," I said after a few moments. He smiles again. "Are there more like you?" I ask. He nods. "Yes, but only in a select few. We enjoy being gaming consols for it's where imagination is expanded beyond books, one of the few inventions really worthy of the human race." Now it was my turn to smile but he wasn't finished. "Unfortunately there is a drawback to this. I only have enough energy to bring you here. You have to finish the story in order for me to send you back. That is, if you want to go back. For this is not a game, but another dimension created out of this game." That threw me for a loop.

"So, I can actually die?" I ask in slight fear. He nods sadly. "I'm afraid so." I'm suddenly afraid. But then I remembered a saying. 'Life is a risk.' That made me feel better. I smile at the human representation of my PlayStation 2. "There's a saying. 'Shining brightly for one second is better than living a dull grey life for eternity.'" He smiled back. "That's from King of Bandit, Jing." I nod, surprised. "How'd you know?"

"I scanned your mind after you said yes to proceed. I know everything you know."

"I see," I said as I looked at myself. Sure enough, I look exactly like the representation of me back at the start. I flexed my fingers through the leather gloves and look down at the leather trench coat spread out around me. The heavy pants are nice and comfortable, and have plenty of pockets. The outfit doesn't constrict my movements, which is good as I need to move if I sword fight. And even though I'm wearing all black, I don't feel hot. Next to me are two cases, completely different from each other. The first is very long, about 70 inches long, and black. On the front is a red fox etching with the words in red squished Times New Roman to make it look like a FF title, 'Ragnarok'. The second is way smaller, about 18 inches. It's a stormy grey colour. In black is an etching of an eastern style dragon. Underneath in blue is the word, 'Oathkeeper' and underneath that in red is 'Oblivion'.

I look at my PS2, as it to ask permission to open them. He nods, as if he read my mind. Probably did. I opened the big case first and gasp. The sword is magnificent. Beautiful and sleek. Exactly as I imputed. I run my hand over the nine-tailed fox and feel a pulse underneath my fingertips, as if it's alive. I grasp the handle and lifted it out. It felt so light. Either I was super strong, or this was made out of very unique metal. I had a feeling it was both. I practice a few swings to find that I handled the blade quite expertly. I smile and place the sword back into the case.

I then opened the small one and gasped again. The handguns were just as beautiful, sleek and magnificent as the sword. I picked them up and twirled them in both of my hands like a veteran cowboy. I did a quick draw and fired a bullet from each one. Two streaks, one white and the other black, shot out of the barrels and streaked off into the distance. I looked at the guns again, marvelling at the way they handled. There was almost no recoil. Perfect. Checking the ammo cartridge in the handles I see that the bullets are actually energy charges. A small display on the bottom of the cartridge showed that at full charge could shot 300 shots before needing a reload. The guns would recharge over time. Looking at the side of the gun I saw a small knob attached. Taking a closer look at it I saw the words 'semi-automatic' and underneath was 'manual'. Next to that was a second nob but this one looked like it could be turned to four spots, however there was just one word next to the top spot, 'Normal'. Seemed that these guns could be upgraded for different types of shots. I wonder what new levels I would see in the future. I slid the guns back into the fitting and closed the case. I turned to the PS2.

"Fucking wow! This is awesome!" I yelled out, grinning like a little kid on Christmas day. "Thank you… um… what do I call you?" I ask, slightly embarrassed that I didn't ask sooner.

"I don't have a name so you can call me whatever you want," was the reply. I started to think. I went through all the good names before I found the perfect name.

"Sora. Cause your hair looks like the sky. So from now on your name is Sora." I smiled. He nods, also smiling. I then remember something that Sora said. "What do you mean 'If I want to go back'?"

"Well this isn't the first time that this has happened. Many people have been brought into situations like this. We give them a choice at the end, when we have the energy to send them back. Most go back, but a few have stayed. Their circumstances are varied but the core of it all is that they hate their life so much that they wish to start over. That or other things," I fall silent as I try to imagine those circumstances.

"Other things?" I asked.

"Well you know love has a way of changing the rules," said Sora as an explanation. I nodded, knowing that when love was involved, all you could do was hang on for the ride.

"Well, I think you should start now. I've changed a few things so there will be surprises for you. For now, just have fun. If you need me, just call out in your mind and depending on where you are, I'll either pop up or answer in your mind. See ya! Oh and your transfer papers are in your pants. And you're also the first male Sorcerer in this world," and with that, Sora disappeared.

I stared at the spot where Sora was a few seconds before. 'First male Sorcerer?' I think to myself. I then get up and realise that I have a black backpack strapped behind me. I look inside to see the two special items I requested and the items from the Advanced kit. Smiling to myself, I pick up my two cases and start walking.

Yes, this was going to be very interesting.

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(AN: Chapter has been updated as of 23/11/2011. Some of Josh Kitsuné's skills have been rearranged and removed. Hair style and eye colour have also been changed. Age is now one year older.)


	2. Chapter 2:  Garden

_**Standard Issue Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII is the property of Squaresoft. Naruto is the property of Shouen Jump. Dragon Ball Z is the property of Akira Toriyama. All characters, locations, and concepts except for original creations belong to them.**_

_****_**(Update 28/01/2012: Edited the power testing at the start of the chapter to keep the continuity of the updated first chapter)  
**

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**Chapter 2: Garden**

I had been walking for the past 15 minutes and there wasn't a sign of the road leading from Balamb to the Garden. So far no run ins with any monsters. I decided to test out my new abilities. So I start with the wings. I just give a mental command and suddenly I have the wings sprouting out of my back. And man they were beautiful. Glossy black and huge. They could easily lift me up. I tried to fly and after a few moments of self-learning on how to even move them, I found myself hovering a few meters above the ground. Wow.

After dismissing the awesome new appendages I tested out the Shadow Clone technique. I didn't even need to create the cross hand seal for the job; it required only a thought. In a puff of smoke there was another me in my sights. I smile at him and he smiles back. Next is the Henge. I instructed my clone to do this. He nodded and changed into Naruto.

"Hi ya," he said in the same voice as Naruto uses in the English dub.

"Huh. I guess using henge also changed your voice to whatever you wish to. Useful," I noted.

After dismissing the henged clone I decided to continue looking for the road. Turns out I was close as I stumbled across it. The road looked quite normal. As I was looking towards the mountains I assumed the town was on my left. That meant the garden was on my right. So I turned and started walking towards my future home, all the while whistling the Besaid theme song from Final Fantasy X-2.

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Balamb Garden was founded twelve years ago by its current headmaster, Cid Kramer. Balamb Garden was one of only three structures like it around the Final Fantasy VIII world, all of which belonged to the worldwide Garden organization. Another Garden was located on the Monteresau Plateau inside the Republic of Galbadia, on the continent to the west of the Balamb continent. The other Garden was located in the frigid northlands of Trabia.

Balamb Garden was an immense building, towering over three hundred feet into the air. It was somewhat conical, with a rounded tip. The central structure of Balamb Garden loomed over the whole Garden grounds, painted white for the most part but with many decorative touches all around the main building. Directly above the central building, rotating in the air, was an immense glowing ring that slowly spun around the entire structure. I wasn't sure how it remained aloft (probably some powerful Float spell cast on it or some gravity generator) but it certainly gave the building an almost otherworldly air.

There were three Gardens in all and each Garden had its specialties. Balamb Garden trained SeeD special forces and also conducted research into the powers of Guardian Forces. Galbadia Garden, located in the Republic of Galbadia, trained officers for the Galbadian army and also produced SeeD special forces, and conducted technological and weapons research. That particular Garden was the largest and most populous Garden of the three, due to the contracts with the Galbadian military. Trabia Garden, located in the frigid mountainous northlands of Trabia, operated an exchange program, sending its students to Balamb for SeeD training, since their Garden was too small and isolated to conduct SeeD exams. Trabia Garden also conducted research into magic and magical theory.

Actually, it wasn't "magic," per say; it was "para-magic." The techniques called "magic" used by Garden and other armed forces around the world were actually just the manipulation of the latent magical energy of the world. With the appropriate training, and having the appropriate spell energy on hand, anyone could use magic. The problem was getting the magical energy itself. Spells could be refined from the bodies of creatures and monsters, from certain magical objects, or taken from magical "fountains" which sprouted from the ground, containing magical energy. Garden also used its own method for obtaining magic, known as "Draw." Drawing allowed one to call forth magic directly from monsters and the "fountains" which Garden referred to as "draw points."

Balamb Garden utilized powerful beings known as Guardian Forces, or GF's, in conjunction with physical training and practice with the use of magic to produce their elite SeeD special forces. Cadets at Balamb Garden trained hard to become SeeDs, also going through classes involving more "mundane" skills, such as mathematics, sciences, arts, etc. In effect, each of the Gardens was like a combination of a military academy, elementary, middle, and high school, and a university. But the special thing about the Gardens was that they were absolutely free. Anyone who wanted to and proved they had the right stuff could join at no cost. Garden didn't make its money off of its students, not immediately, at least. Aside from the money from the Galbadian government to train officers, Garden earned its income entirely off its SeeD special forces, who were hired out as mercenaries in conflicts around the globe. A SeeD's job was exceedingly dangerous, but it was also exciting and very well paying, which was the lure that brought many cadets in.

As I walked in through the front golden gates and made my way to the main foyer I was blown away at the beauty of the place. The fountains and marble walkway surrounding the main circular foyer gave it such a peaceful air that it almost disguised the Garden's true nature. If it weren't for the countless students in uniform, nobody would ever realize that this was a technology-advanced military academy.

As I finally reach the main area I take a good look around. The central structure of Balamb Garden was mostly open space, at least around the first level. There were a series of walkways arranged like the spokes of a wheel connecting the various first level facilities. Each walkway connected with a central circular walkway, which surrounded a raised platform where the central elevators were located.

Separating the central platform from the walkway was a raised pool that surrounded the elevator platform. Ornate and beautiful fish statues acted as fountains for the pool. The water filtered down underneath the walkway to spill down into an outer pool that ran underneath the connecting walkways to the various facilities. Throughout the expansive room were numerous plants and shrubs. Combined with the flowing water and the general student life, these gave Balamb Garden a vibrant, lush atmosphere, that of an indoor paradise.

Even though I couldn't see from my point of view, I knew that the dormitories were on the opposite side of where I was standing. Everyone who didn't commute from another town or city stayed at the dorms. While cadets got only small rooms housing only a bed, desk and wardrobe and four of these rooms shared a bathroom, SeeD's got larger rooms, private bathrooms and a bar fridge. I think.

If you think of the dorms being on the north side, then on the north-east side was the Training Centre. They let wild monsters loose for people looking to get some real training where you could get killed if you lose focus or over-confident of your skills.

On the north-west side was the Cafeteria. People could grab something to eat and take it back to their rooms or just sit there to eat. The most popular thing to eat there were them hot-dogs. 'I could sure go for one or two now.'

The west walkway led to the Quad. This was a place where the students spend some of their free time, when they weren't in their rooms. The Garden Festival was going to be held there but in the future those plans get changed.

To the east was the car park. Not very exciting.

The south-east block was the Library. A place for quiet study or for anyone wanting to get a good book.

South-west was the Infirmary. The doc, Dr. Kadowaki, treats the injuries here, but she mostly gets students asking for advice. I guess she must be a counsellor as well.

On the second level was where all the classrooms, training rooms and labs are, as well as an emergency exit. The terminals in the classrooms are used for downloading info off the local internet. They're also used to post, chat and host online bulletin boards.

And on the third level was the Headmasters Office. You needed permission to get there. Speaking of which, I walk up to the faculty officer standing next to the lift.

"Sir, I'm here to see Headmaster Cid," I said respectfully, even though these guys are complete asses. I put down one of my weapon cases and bring out my transfer papers. I hand them to the guy and he scans them before nodding and giving back my papers. I smile and get inside the lift. I press the third level button and wait patiently for the lift to carry me up.

I got out of the lift and quietly knocked on the doors. I heard a faint "Come in," from the other side. I open the door and step inside. The room was wide and open, with little furniture or knick-knacks cluttering the space. Instead, Cid had several display cases and tables set up on either side of the room, along with a few plush chairs and couches for people to sit in. The floor was not carpeted, instead being made of polished marble, with many designs painted on it, and a red strip leading right to the Headmaster's desk. The desk was not the massive one a person would normally expect, but instead a modestly sized piece of furniture with a laptop and a small pile of papers and folders neatly placed on the opposite side. Cid himself sat in a large chair, almost like a throne, adorned with the Garden's white and black sigil, and also featured a pair of flags with the same sigil. Instead of a back wall, Cid had a single huge plate glass window that extended across the entire length of the office, and up high towards the vaulting ceiling above. The top of the room must have been a good twenty feet overhead, if not more. Several doors led out of the office, obviously leading to Cid's own quarters.

Cid was a short, slightly overweight man in his early fifties, with brown, slightly greying hair, grey eyes, and large glasses. He featured something resembling a beard on his chin and wore a reddish vest, white business shirt, a green tie, and some old brown pants. He was sitting behind his desk, busy with something. Probably working on the up-coming SeeD exam. He looked up from his work and smiled.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" he said in a calm voice.

"Sir, I'm the new transfer student from Galbadia Garden." I say as I hand him my transfer papers to him. He looks at them before turning back to me. "Ah, you must be Josh. Galbadia Garden speaks extremely highly of you. They say you're the best they've seen in quite a while."

'Really. That's nice to know,' I think as I smile to him.

"Well, you'll be joining the SeeD exam this afternoon?" he asks. I nod. "I understand that I need to undergo some test before I go?" Cid nods at this. "That's right. I suggest you unpack in your new room before visiting Instructor Trepe in Lecture Room 04. She's just about to pick up a student from the infirmary. I'll call her to tell her that she'll be having an extra student participating in the test." He reaches into a drawer and picks out a key. He tosses it to me and I catch it easily. Looking at the key, I see the numbers 090 inscribed onto the key.

"That's your key for your room. Go get ready and meet up with your instructor. I'll see you this afternoon before the start of the exam. I also look forward to your performance at the inauguration this evening." I smile and say thank you before pocketing the key, picking up my weapon cases and exiting the room.

As I step out of the lift and walk to the dorms, the few students that are walking around look at me with interest. I also notice that I'm catching the eyes of a lot of girls. 'This will be interesting.' I think as I enter the dorms area. It doesn't take long to find my room and I unlock it.

The inside is what I expected. I start to unpack my stuff. My weapon cases I leave on my bed. I look through my bag and take out everything. The projector and laptop, a wallet that, after I opened it, was stuffed with many Gil notes (roughly 10,0000), and a black leather belt with two leather holsters for my guns and small loops to slide the potion vials in. Realising that I needed nothing for the time being, I walked out of my room and lock it. I then walk to the classroom. By the time I got there it seemed that Quistis and Squall were already inside. I knocked politely and heard a female's reply of, "Come in."

Opening the door revealed a semi-full room. The room was full of an atmosphere common in any classroom at any school or academy – students chattering excitedly, some laughing loudly over a shared joke, turned around in their seats to talk to friends in the row behind. More studious pupils already had their books and tools out, ready for the lesson ahead and trying to get in some last minute reading. A paper plane flew over a few heads, one student hurriedly tried to finish his cafeteria hot dog before class started and one group of vain girls sat preening themselves; brushing each others hair and applying make-up before their first morning lesson as smitten male students watched.

However all heads turned to see who walked through the door. They all stared at me and all chatter died there and then. I walked through the door confidently and stood beside the teacher's desk with my hands clasped behind my back in a typical 'at ease' military position.

"Class this is our new transfer student from Galbadia Garden," said Quistis. Quistis had blonde hair that she always wore in a tight bun, with some longer strands of hair escaping at the front and framing the sides of her young face. She had a lovely peaches-and-cream complexion, and was dressed in smart glasses and the female Garden uniform – long sleeved blouse with a sailor-style collar and bow, knee-length skirt and smart black heeled boots. She turned to me. "Why don't you introduce yourself?" she asked.

I smiled at the class. "My name's Josh Ryu Kitsune and I'm 22 years old. My likes are to listen to music, hang out with my friends, foxes, dragons, good food and travelling. My dislikes are people who disrespect my friends, spiders, snakes, pumpkin and arrogant people. My hobbies are sword fighting, enjoying sunsets and watching thunderstorms. I hope to get along with each and every one of you." I said.

It seemed that this introduction wasn't something they expected from a guy who looked like he was part demon, which is how I looked. Most of the girls were looking at me in a lustful way, making me slightly uncomfortable. The guys looked at me as if I was new competition. Looking at Squall, well, he wasn't paying attention.

"Thank you Josh. You can sit in the corner over there," said Quistis as she pointed to the direction of Squall. This was typical of Squall – not wanting to be near anyone, and being alone every chance he got. I nodded and walked across the classroom, passing the seats and study panels, large computers where cadets did their work and studies, and also used as terminals for Garden's online community. The panels were arranged in three lines, extending to the back of the classroom. A wide window at the back of the classroom provided illumination during the daytime. I walked around Squall and sat in my seat, glancing at the loner.

He was a little shorter than me, roughly five and a half feet tall, with long, messy brown hair, hanging down around his face, a few strands in his eyes. A fresh scar, running from his forehead down to the left side of his nose, adorned his face. He wore a short black leather jacket with thick, soft white fur around the collar, underneath which there was a plain white muscle shirt. He wore a trio of belts, one around his waist, the other two lower down, crossing diagonally over his groin. One held several small pouches, for items and equipment. The other seemed to be like a combination of a swordbelt and gunbelt, featuring a hybrid of a holster and a scabbard. The hybrid weapon holder was angled forward, as if its weapon was to be drawn like a sword, yet was shaped like a gun's holster, except it was longer, like a sword's sheath. There was no weapon sheathed in so I guessed that he had his weapon in his room. No doubt I would see it in action soon. Around the man's right leg was a trio of small bandoleers, each containing many small cylinders, like ammunition for a revolver. He had black pants, these made out of leather like his jacket, and his boots and gloves matched his pants. Around his neck was a chain, leading down to a crafted lion's head at the end.

I turned to Squall. "Hi," I said in a soft voice. "Name's Josh. What's your name?" I asked, acting dumb. It would be hard to get out of the question that Squall would ask regarding his name. But it seemed that Squall would be staying silent this time.

"OK, class," Quistis said loudly, walking back over to her large desk at the front of the room and sitting down. "Let's start with today's schedule."

"There seem to have been some rumours flying around since yesterday," Quistis said, then paused and peered at the class over her glasses in a moment of suspense. "Yes, the field exam for SeeD candidates will begin later this afternoon."

Every student, with the exception of Seifer and Squall, gasped, and they all began to talk at once.

"Those _not_ participating," Quistis barked in a raised voice, and the room once again fell silent, "And those who failed last week's written test," she paused again to glare at a few of the less academic students, "Are to remain here in the study hall."

There were a few groans and a number of students began to boot up the in-built computers on their desks. They wouldn't be going anywhere today.

"Field exam participants will have free time until the exam," Quistis continued in her usual manner. "Just be sure you're in top condition. Meet in the hall at 1600 hours. I'll announce the team assignments there. Any questions?"

It appeared there were none; everyone was either stunned from the news, or had already started panicking.

"Oh and Seifer!" Quistis remembered, and in true school fashion, every student craned their necks round to the back of the room to see what was going on. "Do NOT injure your partner while training. Be careful from now on."

Seifer was tall, over six feet, with short, slicked-back blonde hair, except for a small lock that hung stylishly down over his face. He possessed a regal bearing, like some ancient knight from ages hence, that belied his eighteen years. He was clad in a long white trench coat, immaculate and spotless, emblazoned with blood-red sword-crosses on the sleeves. Underneath his white coat he wore a sleeveless blue vest, also featuring a cross, this one silver. His black pants matched his boots and gloves, and around his throat hung a silver necklace.

A mixture of disgust, surprise, and anger worked its way onto Seifer's face. He glanced over at Squall, then looked back at Quistis. Anger won the battle in his expression and he slammed his fist down on the top of the panel, as close to an acknowledgement of the order and simultaneous beratement as one could expect from him. He gave Squall an evil glare, and then slouched back casually in his seat. He was mad, but he kept his usual, cocky attitude at the forefront.

"Field exam participants," Quistis said breezily, ignoring Seifer's little tantrum, "I will see you all later. Good luck, everyone!"

The majority of the students, including Seifer, got up and left in a hurry, some heading for the library to cram in some last minute facts and figures, and some to the training centre to get themselves psyched up for the battles they would be facing that afternoon.

"Squall, Josh, I need to talk to you," Quistis added.

I got up and walked over to Quistis with Squall trailing behind me. As she was gathering her things, a female member of the 'Trepies', a group of obsessive followers of Instructor Trepe, walked up to me.

"Since you're new, try to smile a little when you're talking to the Instructor," she told me as the three moved away.

"Okaaay…" I said as Squall stood beside me.

"You two haven't been to the Fire Cavern yet, have you?" Quistis asked, looking up from some paperwork. "You won't be able to take part in today's SeeD exam if you haven't passed the prerequisite."

I nodded as I already knew this. However Squall crossed his arms across his chest.

"Well?" Quistis looked up at him with raised eyebrows after he didn't reply. "Do you have a good excuse?"

"...Not really." he said eventually, with a small shrug.

"Then let's get going," Quistis replied, standing up. "If you're not too confident yet, remember you can review your studies at the study panel on your desk. I'll be waiting at the front gate, so come down when you're ready. And Josh, you need to get your GF ready." Quistis then collected her last few papers and walked out of the classroom.

I walked back to my terminal with Squall. I logged on to see that the GF, Shiva, was available. Looking to what Squall was doing, I saw how to equip GF's. He drew his own GF out from storage. A small door opened underneath the panel, and out came a small drawer, containing a yellow stone. It was Quetzacotl, the GF in charge of the element of lightning. Squall lifted the small stone, no bigger than a large gem, and started concentrating on it. The Guardian Force stone glowed, then just… disappeared, absorbed into Squall's body. I smiled, knowing what to do now.

I drew out Shiva and picked up the ice blue stone. I immediately felt the power radiating out of the stone. Guardian Forces were powerful entities of pure energy. They embodied tremendous magical power, and when persuaded or defeated in battle, would give their powers over to meager humans. GFs sometimes also could be found inside a monster's body, usually as a result of that monster having consumed one of that GF's stones. In such a case, a SeeD could draw the GF from that creature's body easily through the same process they used to draw magic, or if they couldn't draw for some reason, then recover the stone from the dead monster's body.

According to popular myth on the internet back on Earth, Guardian Forces were said to be avatars of the gods of creation themselves, allowing only small part of their essence to exist in the mortal world. These avatars were the beings that bestowed their aid to humans when defeated or convinced. Guardian Forces could be called on directly, at which point they emerged and wreaked havoc on their summoner's foes, or in a few cases, bestowed healing and power on their allies. However, Balamb Garden utilized Guardian Forces in another manner.

Balamb Garden, drawing on knowledge obtained by the legendary Doctor Odine in the far-off eastern nation of Esthar, discovered a way to combine a Guardian Force's powers with magical energy to give an otherwise ordinary human incredible power. The power of the GF could strengthen a man's muscles, harden his skin, toughen his body, increase his reflexes and speed and even bolster and shield from magical assaults. Guardian Forces were used in this manner by Balamb Garden's SeeD forces, giving them a tremendous advantage on the battlefield, especially against ordinary humans who did not possess the edge a GF granted.

I held my stone a moment longer, and then concentrated on it. The Guardian Forces' stone glowed, and then it disappeared, absorbed into my body.

**"Wow, this place is roomy. And it seems that I have a real hottie as a summoner."**

Well when your new GF calls you hot, you know that you're going to have an interesting day.


	3. Chapter 3: Trials of the Fire

_**Standard Issue Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII is the property of Squaresoft. Naruto is the property of Shouen Jump. Dragon Ball Z is the property of Akira Toriyama. All characters, locations, and concepts except for original creations belong to them.

* * *

**_

**Chapter 3: Trials of the Fire**

'Umm, excuse me?' I asked, hoping to god that I didn't just get called hot by a GF.

'**What? How are you talking to me? You shouldn't be able to hear me? What's happening?'** the voice, presumably Shiva's, asked in confusion.

'I don't know, but it seems that I can talk to you. I assume you're Shiva?' I ask.

'**Yes, but it's really strange that you're talking to me. Wait… did you hear me what I said about me calling you hot?'**

'Uh, yeah. Yeah I did.'

'…**Well this is awkward,'** Shiva said.

'No kidding. I have an almost fully naked GF in my head saying how hot I am. Not something that normally happens to me.'

'**And it's not everyday I serve someone who can talk to me. Well, at least I won't get bored.'**

I sigh and exit the classroom. Squall had left already so I was on my own. But then again, Squall would be showing Selphie around the place. I start to make my way to the dorms to get my weapons.

Opening the door to my room, I step inside and open my weapon cases. I first attach my new black belt to my waist. I then pick up my guns and slide them into the holsters attached to the belt; Oblivion on my right and Oathkeeper on my left. I then close the gun case and pick up Ragnarok. I sling it onto my back and it stays there, as if some magic is enabling it to stick to my back. I then pick up my potions and slip them into small loops attached to my belt. Since there were no poisonous monsters in the Fire Cavern I decided to leave my Antidotes here. However I would grab them for the SeeD exam, just in case. I look at myself in the mirror and see my new red eyes looking back. They were just so cool. I've always wanted my eyes to be red. Satisfied I walked out of the room and locked the door.

'I wonder what the reactions from the other students will be when they see my sword and guns?' I questioned in my head as I walked out of the dormitories.

'**They'll probably gawk at you, wondering how on earth you are able to fight with such a sword.' **Said Shiva. I agreed as I passed someone in the corridor. His face was so comical I promised myself to get a camera when I visited Balamb.

He wasn't the only person to look. I decided to try out one of Balamb Garden's famous hot dogs and so I visited the cafeteria before leaving. I was lucky too, since there was one last hot dog left. However just as I was about to bite into the meat and bread goodness, someone charged through the entrance as if he had the whole Galbadian army on his tail. There is only one person who would run that fast to the cafeteria. Yes it's our loveable, Zell Dincht. He came to a dead stop in front of the cafeteria lady at the counter.

"D-do you have any . . . hot dogs left?" he asked, heaving and panting. Yep, Zell was cool looking. His coolness rivals Squall's but in a different way. While Squall is cool in a loner, awesome weapon and hairstyle way, Zell is cool cause he's the total opposite of Squall. The small, muscle-bound cadet stood out with his unique haircut, consisting of a tall plume of hair sticking straight up just over his forehead. Zell also featured a frightening black lightning-like tattoo over the left side of his face. And while Squall will call him loud in the future, I call him a great future friend.

"Nope," came the expected response by the cafeteria lady. "You're a bit late, I'm afraid. We're all sold out."

"Damn! Not again . . ." Zell muttered, his voice almost a whine. "Its hopeless if you don't get here early. All right, I'll try again next time . . ."

"I'll try to order more, but there's no guarantee!" the worker called after Zell as he walked away dejectedly.

'Poor Zell…' I think before looking down at my hot dog. Then back at Zell. 'Damn my personality of being a nice guy,' I grumble mentally to myself before calling out to him, careful to not say his name. If I did, uncomfortable questions would follow.

"Hey! Blondie!" I call to him. Seeing as him and me were the only people in the cafeteria at the time he turns around and looks at me. I walk up to him and rip my hot dog in half. I may be generous, but I still want to eat.

"Here," I offer the bottom piece. He looks at me, then the food, and then back at me. "You sure?" he asks. I nod. He puts a wide grin on his face and takes the food in my hand. "Thanks man!" I smile and start to dig in. "Oh this is tasty! I never knew a hot dog could taste this good!" I exclaim as I take another bite of some of the best food I've had. Zell grins again. "You must not be from around here," he stated to me. "For everyone here knows the hot dogs are divine."

I finish my half and look at Zell as he polishes his own half off. He then rubs his hand on his pants and then offers it to me. "Zell Dincht's my name!" he says enthusiastically. I smiled and grasp his in a firm handshake. "Josh Ryu Kitsune. I just transferred here."

"Ah! I guess you're doin' the SeeD exam this afternoon," He says as we let go. I nod. "Yeah, but I gotta do a trial first."

"That's right! Gotta battle a GF in the Fire Cavern," he says, trying to be helpful. I grin. "Well he's in for a nasty surprise, cause I got Shiva on my side." I then look at him thoughtfully. "Do you have one?" I ask.

He nods his head. "Yeah, I have. I got my Ifrit stone in the system. I should go grab it before the exam." He then looks to my right. "What's that pole?" he asks. I start to laugh as I grasp my sword and unsling it from my back and bringing it round to the front. Zell gets a big eyeful of the sword before he yells, "HOLY FRIGGIN HELL! THAT'S ONE HELL OF A SWORD!"

I place one finger in my ear to get rid of the ringing in it before doing a Cloud by spinning it in the air a few times, then attaching it to my back once again. "Whoa!" gasped Zell as he watched this. "I guess you're quite good with that… that…"

"It's called a Zweihander Sword." I supplied. I look around before saying, "Sorry Zell, but I gotta go." He shakes his head. "That's fine. I probably took up too much of your time. I hope we're in the same squad for the exam." He says before running out of the room.

'**He was a nice guy,' **commented Shiva. I smiled and start to move to my next destination.

The hot, humid air of the Training Center struck me like a flying chair as soon as I passed through the doorway. The Training Center was essentially a large enclosed jungle, filled with flora and fauna, and of course, monsters. The vast majority of the monsters in the Center were Grats, a big, plant-like creature, although the Center was home to a collection of other, more powerful creatures, kept as a lesson to all SeeD cadets that they were not invincible.

The Center had two entrances, one on either side of the door leading to the hallway. Both entrances led through the huge electrified fence that separated the jungle itself from the rest of Garden. I opted to go through the left entrance. I switched off the electricity around the doorway, stepped through, and flicked it back on. Then, I delved into the Training Center.

It hadn't taken long before I encountered what I was looking for. I was advancing down a wide, clear road section of the Center, marked by a number of fallen logs, when a lone Grat made its appearance. The Grat had a bulbous central body, like that of a carnivorous plant, with a group of six tiny, skinny legs supporting it. A quartet of long, leaf-tipped tentacles rose up over its body, designed to help the thing batter and pull prey into its spine-tipped maw at the top of its bulb-like body. Grats, I knew, were a good source of supportive magic, especially Sleep spells and the magic-inhibiting Silence spells.

'Ok Shiva, time for lesson 'Drawing Magic' 101,' I say in my mind.

'**Well all you have to do is tap into my power to feel what the Grat has, magic wise. Then you just focus on the type of spell you want and then just pull at it. The magic will then come to you. The amount of spells or 'Charges' you get depends on how strong you are with magic.'** Shiva explained in a very helpful explanation.

'Thanks Shiv,' I say, giving Shiva a nickname. By the feeling I was getting from her I guessed she liked the name.

I focused and reached out to the Grat with my mind. I called upon the power bestowed by the Guardian Forces, and was able to sense the magical power within the Grat. Singling out the energies I needed, I focused on them and drew them out.

Energy flew from the Grat's body, in glowing purple and blue lines, arcing across the distance between us. I felt the magical power of Sleep spells as they entered my own body, and I nodded as I felt my stock of Sleep charges go up.

I did this a couple of times, drawing more Sleep and Silence spells before killing it off with my dual handguns. The attack was quick and efficient. There was no way I would use the Ragnarok for such an easy job. It would be overkill. I walked around the place until I found the draw point containing some offensive magic, Blizzard. The draw point looked like a fountain of swirling purple and blue light. It was hypnotic.

'This will be useful with my sword limit break with Ifrit,' I think before exiting the place.

As I make my way to the gates, more people look in awe at me. It's a nice change, since when I was on Earth I didn't get a lot of attention. Yeah, it was nice. I passed the old man at the front gate and headed out to the exit from the Garden grounds. I passed the wide concrete avenue leading out from the front entrance and down a short staircase, past a beautiful collection of pools, waterfalls and shrubbery, and out to the front gate where Quistis waited.

As she said she would, Quistis was waiting for me there with Squall, now clad in a more casual outfit, consisting of a high-collared orange zip-up vest, a similarly colored skirt that ran down to below her knees, detached black sleeves, and long black boots. A belt ran from her upper left hip down to her lower right, and hooked to it were her item pouches, backup knife, and a coiled rante, or chain whip, complete with a sharp and nasty-looking blade on the end.

"Ready to go?" she asked as soon as I came into view. I nodded with a smile, and we headed off at a brisk pace. Squall took the lead as we crossed the Alcud Plains to the east, towards the region where the Fire Cavern was located.

We made good time, and within a half an hour we had come into sight of the forest east of Balamb Garden, right between us and our destination.

Squall stopped here and checked his watch.

"What's up?" I ask. He doesn't acknowledge me. Instead he turns to Quistis. "I think we should just avoid the forest," he suggested. "We'll lose a half an hour, maybe a whole one, if we go south and around, but at least we won't have to worry about monster attacks as much on the plains. And we won't risk an encounter with any T-Rexaurs," Squall added. I agreed with his reasoning and it seemed that Quistis did too. The eastern forest was the home of many of the huge, powerful monsters. And Squall was also right about avoiding other monsters. The plains had its share of creatures, but the open landscape allowed for easier sighting of them, and they weren't as densely populated out here.

The decision made, Squall lead us southwest, skirting the edge of the woods. After about another half-hour, we could see the forest turning back east and then north. Also, this far south, I could see the ocean several miles southwest.

"I'm surprised we haven't had to fight any Bite Bugs," Quistis remarked. I nodded. Throughout the trip I had occasionally spotted flying specks in the distance, but the most common, and weakest, monster of the Alcud plains had never come closer. Another half-hour passed when I spotted something ahead, moving generally in our direction, and much closer than the distant creatures from earlier. It was about time; I had been wondering if we were somehow repelling the all-too-common monsters.

"Bite Bugs," Squall remarked, drawing his gunblade. Quistis uncoiled her rante and held it ready as she moved up beside him. I drew my guns and got ready. The monsters, four total, were about a hundred feet away, and had flown out from behind a small hill. They veered in closer towards us, but apparently had not yet spotted us. I took this chance to examine Squall's Revolver.

The Revolver was a gunblade, a strange and exotic hybrid of gun and sword. The Revolver, as its name would suggest, had the handle of a six-shooter magnum. Where the barrel would be on a magnum, however, there was instead a long, broad blade, marked with an engraving of a crouching lion, with powerful wings sprouting from its back. The blade tapered until the last few inches, where the tip was shaped like the end of a scimitar, the curved edge excellent for slicing, yet straight enough for a powerful thrust. On the end of the handle of the Revolver was a short chain, at the end of which was a small sliver lion's head.

"Attack or avoid?" Quistis asked, leaving the decision up to us. I shrugged.

"Depends on them," Squall said. "If they pass us, we go on. But if they turn towards us, we take them out." Again, Quistis and I agreed with his reasoning.

As they had been talking, the Bugs drew near, and one could see the three-foot long creatures more clearly. Bite Bugs were large, blue mosquito-like insects defined by their huge, split jaws that took up a third of their body length. They also featured six legs, the first two of which were larger than the last four, and also a large, oversized stinger on their abdomen. Two pairs of dragonfly-like wings supported the monsters as they flew.

The quartet of Bugs apparently had spotted us, and must have been either hungry or territorial, as they turned directly towards us and attacked. Squall and I immediately advanced, weapons ready, and moved protectively in front of Quistis. We would engage the monsters in melee (in Squall's case at least), while Quistis would hang back and put her whip's longer range to better use and used her stronger magic as well.

Quistis focused, and called forth magic. A ball of flame erupted and shot out at the leading Bug, blasting it and turning it into a smoking cinder. The remaining three came on, heedless of the fiery death of their comrade. One dove in at Squall while the other two circled around, one going for Quistis, the other coming in behind me.

I turned and shot a single bullet from Oathkeeper at the bug, claiming an instant kill as the bullet speared through the head. I looked to see the Bite Bug opening its jaws to try to take a chunk of Squall. The open jaws provided Squall with an excellent place to stick his gunblade.

Looking at Quistis I saw the bug go with a straightforward attack, to which her snapping rante's blade convinced it otherwise. A gash was torn along the Bug's exoskeleton, and the monster dove down low, rising up and biting at Quistis's face. The instructor leaned back out of range and punched the Bug in its insectile face as it opened its jaws to bite her again. The monster fluttered back, and Quistis's whip snapped up, the blade burying into the Bug's underside, killing it.

Squall bent down and wiped the black ichor from his kill away on the grass, then checked the dead corpse. I did the same to find a few magic stone fragments. Using Shiva to convert the fragments into magic charges, I felt my Blizzard stock fill up slightly. Satisfied I walked over to the others.

Twenty minutes later we had reached the Fire Cavern, its tall cliffs looming up above the instructor and cadet. At the base of the cliffs, in front of a yawning black cave entrance, stood a pair of Faculty, obscuring yellow hats and all.

"Okay, we're here," Quistis said to us. "You guys ready?" Squall and I nodded and led the way to the sentry-like Faculty.

This was it. The Fire Cavern test. One of, if not the, most important tests a SeeD cadet would take. Nothing proved a man's mettle as much as fighting, defeating, and obtaining a legendary Guardian Force.

According to what information I remembered from the game, Ifrit was an entity of pure fire, existing in the heart of the Fire Cavern. There, he rested in peace, like most other Guardian Forces, unless angered or disturbed, at which point he would emerge and unleash his wrath upon the foolish mortal who had dared challenge him. According to the few students I asked back at Garden, all SeeD cadets had to tempt that wrath, though Ifrit, while a furious enemy, was also an honourable opponent. The Guardian Force had never attacked a SeeD cadet who had challenged him with truly lethal force. In situations where the cadet had been severely injured, Ifrit would lighten up its attack until the supporting SeeD had healed them. If a cadet was ever defeated, Ifrit never moved in for the kill.

"Student no. 41269, Squall Leonhart, ready to take the Fire Cavern test," Squall spoke as he stood at attention in front of the Faculty.

"Student no. 92829, Josh Ryu Kitsune, ready to take the Fire Cavern test," I said and copied Squall's movements as I stood next to him. One of the two Faculties stepped forward.

"Your objective: To obtain a low-level Guardian Force," the faculty said. "A SeeD member must support."

"I'm their support," Quistis replied, standing at attention as well and snapping off a salute. "Instructor no. 14, Quistis Trepe."

The Faculty turned back to us.

"Select a time limit," he ordered. "Challenging, yet reasonable." I look at Squall and say in a low voice, "I think we should go for 20 minutes." Squall nodded at me and told the Faculty the time limit. A suitable time limit that showed we weren't too cocky, but not too cautious.

"Very well," the Faculty said in response, while the other took out a small stopwatch. The first Faculty stepped aside, allowing Squall, Quistis and myself inside. "Good luck."

* * *

"Wowsers it's hot!" I exclaimed as the wall of heat collided with my face as we walked into the cavern, however my body temperature remained the same. I guess that the clothes I was wearing protected me from any increase or decrease in temperature, keeping it at a comfortable level. We were on a long, winding stone walkway that descended deep into the centre of the Cavern. Beneath us, the flowing lake of molten stone emitted intense heat. Squall and I could see monsters down below in the inferno, ignoring, even revelling in the heat. I figured a few more would be on the stone trail leading down to Ifrit, but nothing that would seriously slow us down.

"You know, the boys often choke on this test when I come with them," Quistis remarked. "I guess my charm makes them nervous."

I sighed. "Now is not the time to make bad jokes, and I doubt that Squall want's to even hear them," I said in a slightly irritable voice, causing Squall to look at me. "I'm just kidding!" she says. "I'm just trying to keep you relaxed, that's all."

"Uh huh…" I say, indicating with my voice that her ploy wasn't working.

We descended deeper into the heart of the cavern, keeping their eyes on the trail ahead for any threats. Up ahead, a creature floated around a stalagmite mound on edge of the stone walkway. It was large, about human-sized, and spherical. It featured short arms and flames on top of its round body, and diabolic, grinning face on the front.

"So that's a bomb eh? What an ugly little basted!" I say as I quickly drew Oblivion and shot it in the head once. The bomb instantly dropped to the ground, dead. The other two looked slightly shocked at how quick I defeated the bomb. However I looked at them questioningly.

"What?" I asked. "Are you upset that I got 'im before you? Don't worry, the next one you guys can take," I offered, thinking that was the reason they were looking at me funnily. Quistis shakes her head slightly and looks at me again. "How old are you?" she asked.

"Huh? Um… 22," I say, not getting the question. However that seemed to satisfy the instructor and cadet. "That makes sense on how you're so strong. You've had more experience than us." I form an 'o' shape with my mouth before we continued on. Behind me I felt Squall shoot me glances every now and then.

The stone path began to wind and branch out from here, and the light only got brighter. I could clearly tell that the centre of the Cavern was ahead, or at least our destination, since the walkway was only a short distance above the flowing lake of molten stone now.

My warning senses blared at me as another Bomb suddenly hovered up from the lava below and flew towards us. At the same time, a second Bomb swooped out from around another stalagmite mound. This time I stayed out of this battle. The first bomb hurled a magical burst of flame at Squall. The fireball exploded and knocked him on his rear, reminding me of Seifer's trick in his and Squall's dual. The other Bomb flew at Squall head on, only to be stopped by a cracking chain whip. The spherical monster turned its anger towards Quistis, who put her whip into its ugly face again.

Squall stood up and replied to the first Bomb's Fire spell with his own Blizzard. The Bomb took a large chunk of ice in the face, the cold magic dousing its fires and its life. The dead Bomb dropped down into the lava below.

Qusitis's whip had gouged a few nasty holes into the remaining Bomb's hide, but the monster seemed only angrier. It prepared to cast a spell at her, when Quistis's whip wrapped around one of its stubby arms and yanked. Surprised, the Bomb stopped casting its spell long enough for Squall to arrive and bury the Revolver in its backside.

"Nice job guys, but now we have ten minutes. Let's get a move on," I say as we continued. By now the lava was so close to the stone path that I could have reached down and touched it - not that I would want to! Up ahead, the centre of the Cavern and the source of the vast chamber's heat was near.

"I guess I was right," Quistis admitted as they drew closer to Ifrit's fiery home. She turned to us "Both of you and Seifer are in a class of your own. You three have amazing strength and potential." I smile at her. "Aww thanks Instructor. Considering I've only just met you today that's a really nice compliment you gave me." I then grasp Squall's shoulder and shake him slightly as if we've been buddies for ages. "And I'm sure Squallychums appreciates it too," I add with a grin. Quistis laughs at this as Squall strongly brushes my arm away.

We continued on until we reached the spot to fight. It seemed obvious that this was Ifrit's lair; a central area of stone with jagged stalagmite mounds rising up around a wide hole in the ground, which glowed with the sheer heat from deep below. The lava in the Cavern seemed to form from around the Guardian Force's home, flowing outwards like a hellish fountain. The whole place seemed eerie, as if the entire Cavern had been crafted by something, or someone, specifically for this challenge.

"This is it," Quistis said from behind us. We both glanced back at her, to see the instructor standing a safe distance away from the fiery hole. Her whip was coiled at her side, and she stood waiting. We knew that she would not be actively participating in this battle, only being there to ensure that Ifrit would not inadvertently kill us. We turned back and started to move into battle ready stances.

"You two seem confident enough," she said with a grin, but the words fell dead a moment later, as the ground began shaking. Jets of yellow energy, fiery magic, shot out from the hole. Chunks of rock and molten stone flew up from the hole, accompanied by more bursts of magic and a titanic roar. Then, something else rose out of the fiery gap, a massive and mighty creature, an entity of flame and wrath and destruction, poised to annihilate us tiny mortals below.

Ifrit had come. Yay…

AN: Another chapter done. Keep up the reviews people!


	4. Chapter 4: The Great Red Spirit

_**Standard Issue Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII is the property of Squaresoft. Naruto is the property of Shouen Jump. Dragon Ball Z is the property of Akira Toriyama. All characters, locations, and concepts except for original creations belong to them.

* * *

**_

**Chapter 4: The Great Red Spirit**

The Guardian Force was huge, twice my height and, if he were flesh and bone, would have weighed at least ten times my mass. He stood on thick, dog-like, heavily muscled legs. Ifrit's chest was massive, at least six feet wide, and was also heavily muscled. Also powerfully built were his thick shoulders, as wide around as my own chest, along with Ifrit's mighty biceps and forearms. His fingers and toes were tipped with black eight inch claws, and his hide was a dark brown, as if cooked by the hellish flames the Guardian Force commanded. His growling visage looked like that of a hell-spawned lion or panther, and a pair of huge, slender black horns rose from the top of his head and curved back, extending out nearly ten feet. The Guardian Force had long red hair that ran down his back, and also a short red beard around his jaw line. Ifrit's eyes glowed yellow, like molten gold, and had no irises or pupils.

The Guardian Force looked down on Squall and me, and a deep growl resonated within its throat.

"**Do you two mortals challenge me?"** asked Ifrit in a demonic voice, even though his mouth didn't move. The voice was strangely toned down, sounding like a deep rumbling rather then an ear deafening roar. We both nod.

"**Who is first?"** Ifrit asked and I realised that it was still going to be a one-on-one battle. I gesture to Squall. "You can go first," I offer. It was then that Squall spoke directly to me for the first time.

"Thanks." …Ok so it wasn't a whole sentence, but it was a start. Squall stepped forward, drawing his gunblade in the process. To the side I saw Quistis talk into something before stepping over to me. "I just stopped your time while Squall takes on Ifrit." I nod my thanks and I step back to give Squall and Quistis space for the battle.

"**Are you the one?"** asked Ifrit.

"I am," answered Squall. Ifrit nodded slowly. **"Then let us start."**

Then, Ifrit's mouth opened and a titanic roar came forth, and even as the shout ended, he was airborne. He cocked his fist in preparation.

Squall rolled forward as Ifrit came down, his fist shattering the stone where Squall had been standing moments ago. As the cadet came out of his roll, he spun around, and the Revolver slashed twice across Ifrit's backside, both times drawing a red line across the Guardian Force's brown hide. Heat burst from the wounds, as if the cuts had vented Ifrit's inner fires. The GF spun back towards Squall, attempting to backhand the cadet. He quickly backed away, but not without taking a clubbing blow on his left shoulder that spun him around and left his left side aching.

It seemed that Squall was a strong fighter as Ifrit looked like he wasn't going easy on Squall. The GF could have killed an ordinary man with that single swing. Ifrit growled again and charged, his right leg coming forward in a snapping kick. Squall hopped back, then ducked and scooted forward underneath the leg, slashing upwards into the limb with the Revolver as he did so, and managing to fire off a shot that blasted the GF's leg. The blade and blast tore another reddish hole in Ifrit, and Squall felt the nearby temperature rise even higher as more magical heat energy flowed from Ifrit's torn body.

The cadet skittered backwards, gunblade ready to attack again. It looked like this would be a long battle of hit-and-run if he kept it up with the gunblade, but magic might even the odds. I then caught sight of the wounds that Squall had inflicted on Ifrit. Or rather, lack of them. Even as I watched, the gaping tear in Ifrit's leg was sealing up, the damage Squall had done seemingly reversing. Squall seemed surprised as well.

"He regenerates?" Squall called out to Quistis, glancing back at her.

"No!" Quistis replied. "He's just an avatar. He can't be killed by a human," she explained.

"Then how do I beat him?" Squall shouted back. Even as he asked the question, Ifrit had cocked an arm back as if he were throwing something underhanded. Squall was caught off-guard as the fireball blasted him.

"Just fight him like you would anyone else!" Quistis responded as Squall fell back, but managed to hold his footing. "You can't kill him, but you can defeat him if you deal enough damage!"

"Right," Squall replied. I heard slight exasperation in his voice. He focused, calling up the magical energies of a Blizzard spell. A chunk of ice formed overhead and struck Ifrit hard, the cold magic sapping his fiery strength, a counter to Ifrit's Fire spell. Ifrit roared in pain and charged Squall, again leaping into the air. The cadet readied to leap out of his way as the GF went airborne again. Squall dove forward once more, dodging Ifrit's powerful fist and dealing out another slash across Ifrit's side in retaliation. Ifrit spun, and Squall expected another backhand, but none came. Instead, Ifrit once again swung his arm as if throwing underhanded, and a fireball blew up in Squall's face. The wily GF advanced right behind the spell, preparing to smash Squall with another mighty fist. The balled hand came in and slammed Squall in the chest, hurling him back with the force of a wrecking ball.

'**Man, I haven't ever seen Ifrit go so out on a human,"** said Shiva in the recesses of my mind as she watched the battle. Presumably somehow she could see what I could see.

'Never?" I ask. I got the feeling that Shiva was nodding her head.

He landed close to the fire pit, and rolled away from its heat, clambering back up to his feet even as Ifrit came at him again. Another mighty punch swooped in, but Squall wasn't there, instead ducking forward and under the GF's arm and slicing up into his armpit. Squall pulled the trigger, launching the explosive force into Ifrit's underarm, and the Guardian Force howled.

Squall slashed across Ifrit's body again and managed to dive behind the Guardian Force before another powerful blow could send him flying. The GF spun around and faced Squall, respect apparent on its face.

"**Hmm, not bad mortal, not bad at all!" **Ifrit remarked as his wounds sealed. Then, fire seemed to erupt in his palms as he clenched his fists tightly. Ifrit's arms then moved blurringly fast, in throwing motions, and small balls of flame shot at Squall. The cadet ducked under one, rolled forward to evade another, then smacked a third away with his gunblade. A fourth fireball caught Squall in the stomach and sent him back, but he was up in time to block a fifth and dodge a sixth. A seventh came in, which Squall ducked under.

Then both of the Guardian Force's muscled arms shot up. In either hand formed a ball of magma from seemingly nowhere, and then the great GF let the fires loose, hurling both balls at Squall. The cadet had only a split- second to react, and he threw himself backwards, barely avoiding the roiling balls of lava, though he felt their intense heat easily enough as they struck the spot he'd been standing at.

But the magma balls didn't stop with merely impacting; they exploded, a raging inferno that caught Squall off guard and hurled him back. He landed and rolled, feeling many scrapes and burns all across his body. All the minor injuries and blasts over the course of this battle were adding up, and Squall was feeling weaker. He couldn't keep up the battle at this rate. The cadet began to struggle to his feet, and as he stood up, Quistis cast a Cure spell on him to revitalise him.

"Only three minutes left, Squall!" warned Quistis from her supportive position. He glanced at Quistis and nodded his thanks, then turned back to Ifrit, ready for more. The fire Guardian Force had waited patiently for Quistis to heal Squall so he could resume the battle, as it had with all cadets it had faced before. Now, the GF stood ready as well, and as Squall levelled his gunblade, the Guardian Force charged.

Squall answered the charge with one of his own, gunblade raised for his own strike. Squall's muscles tensed and he prepared to leap aside from Ifrit's coming attack. Ifrit closed in, his fists erupting into flame.

And then Ifrit stopped abruptly and leaped backwards. Squall was caught off guard by the clever GF's manoeuvre, and almost didn't react in time as Ifrit sent more fireballs down at the cadet in mid-air. He ducked, weaved, dodged, and rolled, deflected one fireball away with his gunblade, and felt a number of near-misses sizzle past. Even as the fireballs fell and exploded around him, Squall spotted the GF as he landed in front of his fire pit. Ifrit hurled another salvo of the fireballs, but Squall rolled underneath them. He came out of his roll with his free hand moving. Around Ifrit there formed a solid globe of water, the liquid drowning and dousing Ifrit's flames. Ifrit broke free of the Water spell in time to take a chunk of ice in the face, courtesy of Squall's subsequent Blizzard spell.

'I wonder where he got Water spell charges from.' I wondered as I continued to watch.

Ifrit's shoulders sagged slightly and he began panting hard, and I could see that he had been heavily drained in that barrage attack he threw at Squall. The Guardian Force was close to defeat, and thus, Squall readied the Revolver and charged. The Guardian Force straightened and roared defiantly, cocking a fist at Squall's coming attack. When the cadet was in range, he let fly, the fist flying down at Squall with devastating force.

He hit only the stone where Squall had been standing as the cadet reversed his own momentum, repeating Ifrit's own trick right back on the Guardian Force. By the time Ifrit had even realized his error; the cadet had ducked back under the Guardian Force's outstretched arm and buried the Revolver in his chest. Ifrit tried to grab Squall, but his hands couldn't grasp the cadet, as he pulled the trigger on the gunblade repeatedly and blasted explosive shots into the Guardian Force's chest.

Ifrit's massive body spasmed with each shot, and after nearly a half dozen blasts he pulled away from the unbeatable human cadet, tearing his blasted chest free of the gunblade. Even as Squall prepared to follow up, Ifrit dropped to one knee, gasping and clutching his wound.

"**You are strong," **Ifrit said slowly. **"Indeed, rarely have I fought a mortal this mighty…"** Ifrit's wound began to seal up, and the GF shakily rose to his feet, head bowed. The glow in his eyes diminished.

"**For me to lose to a human… I must serve, as the ancient rules dictate. Very well,"** Ifrit rumbled. The GF clenched his fist tightly, and hurled a small red stone at Squall, who deftly caught it. **"I will join you. Now…"** he turned to me. **"Do you think I could have some time to heal up?"** Ifrit asked. I laughed. "Of course Ifrit. It wouldn't be a fair fight if we weren't both at full strength." I said. Ifrit nodded and jumped back into the lava pit.

Squall walked over to Quistis. "Good job," she said, clapping. "I don't recall ever seeing Ifrit quite so put to task. Most cadets need to be healed multiple times in that battle," she added. Then the two walked over to me.

I smiled at Squall. "Nice battle Squall. We'll have to have a spar sometime." Squall looked at me for a while. "Only if I see you're good enough in your battle." I smirked, "Why am I not surprised?" I said.

* * *

Five minutes later, Ifrit was healed and jumped out of the lava pit. I walk up to him. "After seeing that battle, I think I'll need to use this," I said and gripped Ragnarok's handle. I slowly draw it with my right hand and flick the large blade out to the side, then gripped it with two hands and point the black sword at Ifrit. Ragnarok now had a red glow due to the lighting in the cavern. I activated my voice skill and smiled at Ifrit.

"**Prepare yourself, Ifrit!"** I said in a demonic voice and charged.

I came in and swiped with Ragnarok, however Ifrit dodged by jumping into the air. Having studied his movements while he battled Squall, I jumped after him before he could get enough momentum for the punch. I delivered a dolphin kick to his face which propelled me away from him. Ifrit, on the other hand, found himself toppling to the ground. At the last moment he righted himself, landed, then charged at me, fist ready. I blocked with Ragnarok but the force threw me back. I slid across the ground for a few meters in a crouched position. I stood up to see the fire demon charging me quickly. I jumped high, flipped forward and executed an axe kick to his head, followed by a downward slash from Ragnarok. The result was a nasty cut over Ifrit's face.

I jumped away to consider what to do next. I didn't want to bring out my special skills yet, such as my wings or clones, so my options were limited slightly. I looked at Ifrit to see that he was charging up large balls of fire, different from the magma balls he threw at Squall. These looked like the Firaga spells that Zack casts from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Ifrit finished charging them up and then threw them at me. These fire boulders were fast as they quickly crossed the distance between us. I quickly rolled to the side and they passed me. Unfortunately they also behaved like Zack's Firaga's as they started to turn and head for me once again.

'Crap!' I thought as I dodged them again by jumping into the air, having no time to roll again. The fire flew up towards me, honing in on my position. Leaving me with no choice, I decide to try something out. If what Sora said was true, that I'm the first male Sorcerer to appear in this world, then maybe I could concentrate my powers through Ragnarok. I focus my Ki energy into Ragnarok and slash out twice, aiming for the fires. Two blue slicing energy blades, like what Sephiroth does, came out of the Ragnarok and sliced through the fire spells. The waves continued and smashed into the floor, leaving gash marks. I land and look at the fire GF. He seemed surprised that I was able to do that. In truth, I was surprised that I could do that. However this surprise didn't last for long and Ifrit came in hard and fast with his claws.

I start to dodge them quickly, but the successive strikes prevented me from counterattacking. And it didn't look like Ifrit would let up on trying to slash the living shit out of me. Though I knew he wouldn't do that. As I continued to dodge I realised that I was getting closer and closer to the lava. I needed to think of something fast. 'Ifrit has the initiative, had mastery over fire… That's it! Oh Shiva?' I called in my mind. She answered straight away. **'I was waiting for you to call me. Want me to come out for a bit?'** she asked. I smirk in my head. 'Yeah! Butt heads with Ifrit for a while. I'll work on a new strategy while you wreck havoc.' I then continued to dodge Ifrit's eight inch sharp, black claws until I was ready.

I then jumped over Ifrit's head and landed behind him. The fire spirit turned around and faced me once again. However, before he could do anything, a large icicle shot out of the ground in front of me. The baking heat of the Fire Cavern was gone in an instant, replaced by an absolute, frigid cold. Inside the icicle, a figure moved. The shard of ice suddenly shattered, and standing there was a woman. She was extremely beautiful and had a voluptuous body, with blue skin. She had long yellow and blue hair, and her body was marked with patches of dark blue ice. I blushed as my eyes trailed over her perky D sized breasts and her nice round ass.

"**Oh shit! You have Shiva!" **Ifrit exclaimed, realizing the power of the ice Guardian Force. Shiva grinned as she waved a hand over her head, and bluish-white energy formed there, the magical power gathering and strengthening. Then, Shiva thrust forward at Ifrit. A shockwave of frozen air blasted into Ifrit, the absolute low temperatures devastating the fire Guardian Force and freezing the surrounding air as it was swept away, creating a line of frozen icicles around the path of Shiva's attack. Shiva turned around to look at me and she smiled, before she faded away, and the ice she had created shattered and disappeared. I felt Shiva's spirit enter back into myself.

"So freaking awesome!" I praised. "That was so cool! No pun intended." She laughed softly. The sound made me feel warm inside, but I shook off the feeling. Now was not the time.

For the first time in the course of the battle, Ifrit seemed truly injured. The GF slumped slightly, but as I raised my sword, Ifrit straightened. He certainly wasn't done yet!

We both charged and met in the middle. Sparks flew from our conflict as we both tried to get the upper hand. Sword and claws collided with each other as we fought in an intense fight. We rained down blows at superhuman speed. I twisted and turned a few times when I couldn't block with Ragnarok. We then jumped apart. I then see that the nine tailed fox etching on Ragnarok was now glowing red. Flipping it over I see the dragon glowing an intense blue. I grinned as a burst of energy surrounded me for a moment. Limit time!

I begin to manipulate two Blizzards together to create a Blizzara spell. However I don't release it. Instead I gather the spell in my hand, creating a mass of ice blue energy to gather in my left hand. Raising Ragnarok, I place my left hand on the hilt and slide the hand all the way to the end of the sword. Ice blue runes appear on the sword, getting brighter and brighter until the sword was shining. Then the light blew outwards like shattered glass. What was left was shocking.

The blade had completely changed. The handle was the same; however that is where the similarity ended. The blade had changed shape. No longer did it look like the Buster sword. Now it was shaped like a claymore blade. The hilt was now silver, with a large snowflake in the middle. The blade itself looked like it was made out of cerulean coloured ice. Knowing that the limit wasn't going to last forever, I charged quickly and came down with a hard overhead strike. Ifrit jerked violently as the blade sliced into him. He tried to take a swipe at me, but that last strike had weakened him greatly. But still he continued to try, not giving up. I easily dodged the claws and kept on striking him in quick succession. However ten seconds is a short amount of time and the Ice Sword crumbled apart to reveal the Ragnarok once again. The large chunks of ice fell to the floor and slowly dissolved into small pieces that drifted away on an unknown breeze.

I jumped away and prepared to strike again when Ifrit toppled to the ground. I immediately run over to him. "Hey Ifrit, you ok?" I ask, my demonic influence leaving my voice. He looked up at me and I could see what looked like a small smile on his face. He then turned over and sat on the ground.

"**We Guardian Forces have been treated like mindless weapons for a long time. People only saw us as a way to achieve ones ends. However I sense you are much different. You care about your GF's. Shiva and I go way back together, despite our differences in element. I've known her ever since we were created to watch over this world that Hyne created and she's never been happier then when I saw her moments ago. She even smiled and she doesn't do that so often, due to the lack of things to smile at. I don't know who you are, or what kind of powers you have, but I know that she's happy with you. So I've decided that you will be the first mortal to receive rights to summoning my second form."** said Ifrit.

"Second form?" I question.

"**It's us GF's true form. When you battle us or summon us normally is our shadow, you could say. A clone of ourselves. This is how we are able to have multiple summoners at one time. The stone that's given is no more than a link to the GF. However our second form is different. Each GF's true form is different from their 'clone'. How is shown by our different looks. And with all of us, in our true form we use our complete power. When we are summoned in our second form, we remain until dismissed. So I trust you to not use our true form's power unless you deem it's necessary."**

"I promise," I said without wavering. Ifrit nodded and then focused, like he did when he created the red stone for Squall. However, what appeared wasn't the same. In his hand was a spherical crystal the size and shape of what a piece of Materia would look like. Fiery energy crackled inside the crystal. I take it and step away from him. With that, the Guardian Force's corporeal body erupted into golden flames that rapidly covered his entire form. Soon, the raging flames obscured the GF's appearance. I looked, slightly sad, as the Guardian Force vanished, the flames suddenly dissipating and then gone. Carrying the crystal with me I started walking back to Squall and Quistis.

'Hey Shiva, why so silent?' I asked.

'**Oh, just thinking,'** she said in a thoughtful voice.

'About what?'

'**About whether to give you access to my second form too,' **explained Shiva.

'…Well I won't force you. You just tell me when you're good and ready,' I thought.

'…**Thanks'**

'By the way, do you and Ifrit really go way back?' I ask. Shiva giggled. **'We sure do. We would often tag-team and prank the other GF's when we weren't being used as summons.'**

I grin to myself. 'I like the sound of pranks…'

I get to the others and they were staring at me. "I have never seen such a battle before between a cadet and Ifrit. I thought he was going all out on Squall, but seeing you and Ifrit fight together just smashed that assumption." Said Quistis with Squall nodding. Squall then asked what I and Ifrit were talking about. I relayed everything that Ifrit told me. Including the second form.

"Could it be the GF's ultimate form?" Quistis wondered. I quirked an eyebrow at her. She saw this and elaborated. "There are a few legends that describe another level of a GF's power. They describe this as the ultimate power. However that was all that was mentioned."

"Hmm, well I might as well merge this with myself," I say and then concentrate on it. The crystal sunk into me and I felt a connection with Ifrit open up. However this connection was much stronger than the one I had with Shiva at the moment.

'**Hmm, it's really roomy in here,'** came the deep rumbling of Ifrit in my mind.

'Hey there Ifrit,' I welcome him.

'**What? How are you speaking to me?'** he asked. I sighed.

It was going to be a long trip back.


	5. Chapter 5: The Approaching Tempest

_**Standard Issue Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII is the property of Squaresoft. Naruto is the property of Shouen Jump. Dragon Ball Z is the property of Akira Toriyama. All characters, locations, and concepts except for original creations belong to them.

* * *

**_

**Chapter 5: The Approaching Tempest**

The return to Garden was uneventful, save for another couple of Bite Bug attacks. However a few spells, some gunblade blasts from Squall and some shots with my Oblivion and Oathkeeper solved that problem in short order. However while we crossed the plains I was having a conversation with Ifrit and Shiva.

After explaining to Ifrit the reason how I could speak to GF's, that I was a Sorcerer, we got onto the topic of the third form of a GF, the form to turn into human.

**"We use this form to interact with humans without creating a disturbance. While in this form we have very little access to our powers. The most we can do is pull off magic manipulation of our element, but not to the extent of what we use normally. This helps to blend in better,"** explained Ifrit.

**"We can cast up to Tier 3 level magic of our element, but not personal techniques, like my Diamond Dust, or Ifrit's Hellfire,"** imputed Shiva.

'I see. I wonder what you two would look like in your third form,' I thought.

**"The only way to see is to summon us. However, for us to change into the third form, you need to have access to our second form,"** said Ifrit.

'Hmm. Can GF's sing?' I ask, a plan formulating in my head.

**"We can. Us GF's pride ourselves on our voices. My voice tends to be better suited to Rock and Jazz songs, but I can sing very well in a choir,"** said Ifrit.

**"Me too. And I like to sing pop songs. But steer clear of Siren. She's excellent with playing the harp, but when she starts to sing, everyone clears out of the room. It's a good thing she knows she's a horrible singer. We all can sing choir too, except for Siren of course,"** said Shiva.

'Hmm…' I think again. Ifrit becomes curious. **"What are you thinking of?"** he asks.

'What do you mean? You're in my head. Can't you hear what I'm thinking?' I ask.

**"Not really,"** said Shiva. **"We live inside the memory part of your brain. In order to stay, we have to delete some memories. However, since you're a Sorcerer, there is a spot in your brain that is unconsciously made just for GF's. So your memories won't be thrown away. Anyways, we can't hear thoughts that aren't broadcasted. When you're talking to us, you're broadcasting your thoughts to us. But when you think to yourself, those thoughts stay private and we can't hear them. It's the same for us while we're in here. Though, we normally don't talk to our summoners, on account of them not being able to hear us."**

'I see. Well I was thinking that I could start the very first GF band. We could all sing together and my clones could take care of the music. What do you think?' I asked. They were silent for a moment before Ifrit spoke up.

**"That is one of the best ideas I have ever heard!"** he exclaimed.

**"Yeah! That is an awesome idea!"** agreed Shiva.

'That's great. In fact, would you be able to sing with me tonight at the inauguration party?' I ask.

**"Absolutely! I've just decided that I'm going to give you access to my second stage so I can be in this band,"** said Shiva in an excited voice. I laugh. 'Well I'll summon you later so you can do what you need to.'

We arrived at the golden gates. I gave a long yawn before turning to Quistis. "Well done," she said as we passed through the front gate. "We still have about an hour before the exam. Change into your uniform and meet in the first floor lobby, at the directory. And be prepared." With that, Quistis left, heading inside. Squall and I followed suit.

The atmosphere inside Garden seemed different than when I had last left. There were fewer students in the halls, and those that were moved quickly, with purpose. The whole building seemed to be enshrouded in hushed anticipation, a tenseness that would only be brought on by the knowledge of a coming battle. Squall and I split up to go change into our cadet uniforms.

I opened the door to see my cadet uniform on the bed. Strangely enough my laptop had moved to the desk with a note attached to the top. And along side it was a strange device, like a helmet of sorts. The helmet was connected to a wire that ended in a USB plug, suggesting that whatever it was, it was designed to connect to the computer. I picked up the note first and began to read.

_Dear Josh,_

_Some things have come up and I'm needed at a meeting with my colleagues. Since I will not be here to help you if needed, I have upgraded the laptop. It now has a direct link to the mainframe that helped you get here. You can use it to learn new things instantly. And the helmet is designed to stream information into the minds of GF's. I heard that you're going to have them sing with you in your band so this will help them memorise the lyrics to the songs you choose instantly._

_Know that you are free to change the future if you want to; however expect the storyline to change as well. However most changes will not stem you from the main objective._

_I should be back within the week. You will probably be in Deling city by then so I'll let you know when I get back. And as for your question on what I said about you being the first male Sorcerer, well it means you will have to prove you aren't like the other Sorceress's._

_Good luck._

_Sora_

_PS: I'll be recording your performance tonight. Have fun!_

I smiled before undressing and slipping on the uniform. It consisted of a dark blue jacket with silver shoulders and a comfortable collar. The pants were comfortable too.

I checked my guns and saw that the ammo gauge was back to 300 apiece. I holstered the guns and sheathed Ragnarok onto my back. I then realised that I would be required to kill humans in this exam. The thought made me nauseous before I told myself that it would happen sooner or later. I wondered what it would feel like when I made my first kill. I shuddered and pushed those thoughts from my mind. I then remembered that Seifer would be our squad captain. That would be difficult.

With my thoughts still running around my head, I exited my room and made my way to the front directory.

"Josh, over here!" Quistis called, waving as soon as she had spotted me. She was once again clad in her SeeD uniform, and was holding a clipboard, looking over about ten or so cadets assembled around the directory, some chatting with their instructors or one another. I made my way over to Quistis, who continued as I came closer. "I'll be announcing the squad assignments for the exam soon." I nodded and looked around. It seemed that only Squall wasn't here. 'Probably checking his equipment,' I thought as I sat on one of the many benches that surrounded the directory.

As if summoned by my thoughts, Squall appeared into my sights. I stand up and head over to Quistis, who was calling everyone over.

"Squad B will consist of Josh Ryu Kitsune, Squall Leonhart, Zell Dincht, and Seifer Almasy," announced Quistis. I glance at Squall as he looked over at me. We both nod at each other, as if accepting each other, before looking over at Zell. He was practicing his martial arts. Zell loosed right and left roundhouse punches at an imaginary foe, and then spun on one behind him, loosing a powerful spinning kick, before planting a pair of left jabs.

"Over here, Zell!" Quistis called to him, and he glanced up from his practice, stopped, and then did a perfect double back flip across the distance, executing a perfect landing with a very broad smile and a thumbs-up. He looked at Quistis, and then saw me standing next to her, and his eyes widened.

"Whoa, I'm with you?" he said excitedly. I grin. "Looks like it," I say back. Zell grinned back before looking at Squall. Remembering his manners he quickly wiped off his gloved right hand on his uniform and held it out to Squall. The taciturn cadet didn't move, except to glance at Zell's hand, then he looked away, a clear indication he wasn't going to shake the offered hand. Zell slumped, looking dejected.

"Don't feel bad Zell," I say to cheer him up. This seems to work as he tries to get a reaction out of the stone student.

"You don't get along with Seifer, do you?" the martial artist asked. At that, Squall did look up.

"Please, nobody gets along with Seifer, except for Fujin and Raijin," I said. Zell nodded his head sagely. "True, true." He then turned back to Squall. "Heard he whooped you pretty bad this morning."

I start sniggering and nod my head. Squall shoots me a dark look.

"We weren't fighting," Squall clarified quickly. "We were training."

"Bet you he doesn't think so," Zell responded, as he knew Seifer almost as well as Squall himself did. "Look," Zell began, "Seifer's just being a pain in the ass. Why don't you ignore him?"

"Yes, why don't you? Just act like he's not worth your time. That will piss him off, probably," I suggest. Squall apparently doesn't agree with me. "That's none of your business." Squall replies defensively, obviously trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

"Yeesh, what crawled up your ass and died?" I ask. Well, Zell practically dies laughing, and Squall's face turns a shade of red that I never knew existed. I turn to Zell. "You better not start celebrating just yet. After all Seifer is in our group." That stopped the laughing.

"Really?" he asked in disbelief. Then Quistis goes and adds more bad news, though I was expecting it. "He's also your squad leader."

Squall looked like he just smelt a fart. ...a very smelly fart. Zell however…

"SAY WHAT?"

"It can't be changed," Quistis said apologetically. "Seifer! Are you here?" she called. As if on cue, Seifer appeared among the assembled students, Fujin and Raijin following him.

Seifer apparently had forgotten (*cough* Bullshit! *cough*) to change into his uniform; he was the only cadet, in fact the only person present, not in uniform. He was still bedecked in his white coat, vest, and pants. Apparently, Garden's style wasn't good enough for him.

"You're the squad leader," Quistis informed Seifer, although I could tell she didn't enjoy the prospect. Well, good. I don't either. "Good luck to you," Quistis added.

"Instructor," Seifer replied, in an almost condescending tone, pissing off Quistis slightly. "I hate it when people wish me luck." Both Fujin and Raijin nodded. "Save those words for a bad student that needs them," he advised.

"Okay then," Quistis responded, smiling sweetly. "…Good luck, Seifer."

It was satisfying to see Seifer's response. His eyes widened, and then narrowed dangerously at the Instructor.

"Add Instructor Trepe to the list," he muttered quietly.

I smirk before saying in a voice that was soft, but was still heard by Squall, Zell and Quistis. "Quistis - 1, Seifer - nil." Zell sniggered loudly while Squall had a slight smile on his face. Quistis smiled warmly at me before speaking to me. "You're second-in-command." I was surprised, but nodded.

"Well then, I'll be the instructor in charge of Squad B. Remember, teamwork is of the utmost importance. Let's get through this exam people!"

"Listen up!" Seifer said to Zell, myself and Squall, grinning. He glanced back over at Quistis. "Teamwork means staying out of my way! It's a Squad B rule! Don't you forget it!"

Quistis shook her head at Seifer's declaration, while Zell veritably trembled in anger at his arrogance. I however wasn't worried. "Psh, whatever," I say in an uncaring voice. Squall looked like I just took the word right out of his mouth, which I did.

"Everyone here?" came a call from the stairs. The assembled group turned to see Headmaster Cid Kramer himself descending the stairs leading to the elevators. Quistis made room for him in front of the directory, and Cid stood there for a moment, surveying his students, hands clasped behind his back.

"It's been a while, everyone," he began, still smiling. "How's everyone doing? This exam will involve twelve members from Squads A through D." Apparently, that was as far into small talk as Cid was going to go. "You will be proceeding to a real battlefield. Obviously, the battles are for real." One of Cid's hands came out from behind his back, waving in the air as he spoke, as if he were holding something.

"Life and death," Cid said solemnly, his smile fading. "Victory and defeat, honour . . . and disgrace. Each of these go hand-in-hand. There's only one way, or the other."

I notice that Zell looks rather nervous at this point. I catch his attention and flash him a grin and a thumbs up. This seems to work as Zell calms down.

Cid brought his hand back behind his back, and bent over, looking each and every cadet in the eye.

"How 'bout it?" Cid challenged. "Are you still up for it?"

The Headmaster straightened.

"You will be accompanied by nine SeeD members," he informed the cadets. "Should you fail, they will get the job done. They always do." Cid then smiled again, holding his hands out wide. "Well, that's one less worry on your mind."

Cid gestured to a group of calm, uniformed individuals, bedecked in battle dress and gear, standing at attention at the top of the stairway behind him. "The pride of Balamb Garden! The elite mercenary force, SeeD! Learn from them, obey their commands, and accomplish the mission." Cid bent over once more, again giving each of the cadets a look in the eye.

"Prove yourself worthy of becoming a member of SeeD." Cid stood straight once again, and nodded at the cadets.

"Best of luck."

I started walking out but I saw Quistis get held back by Cid. I decided to listen in.

"How was their Fire Cavern test?" he asked. "How did Ifrit treat them?" Quistis shook her head, smiling in disbelief. "He threw stuff at Squall that I never saw on my test," she admitted. "And Ifrit didn't give in until he'd taken at least twice the punishment most cadets have handed out. He must have judged Squall to be tremendously strong." Quistis then looked at Cid with absolute seriousness.

"But then Ifrit went up against Josh and let me tell you, that battle was nothing short of legendary. The two fought on equal ground. Josh used skills I have never seen before. At one point of the battle Ifrit cast Firaga and Josh dispelled the spell with some sort of energy projectile from his sword. And his limit was yet again, something I had never seen. He seemed to use magic manipulation that even the Triple M's (Master Magic Manipulators) from Trabia would have trouble with. And the way he handles his weapons at such an expert level; it's truly a sight to see. He's incredibly accurate with his guns and that sword of his. It looks heavy enough that it would take four fully grown men to lift and yet he wields the mighty blade as if it was a simple training sabre. That man is something else." It was here that I decided to follow Zell and the others to the car park.

* * *

Garden had been tense, and so was the atmosphere inside the armoured car as it drove towards the docks in Balamb. Zell sat between me and Squall in the rear passenger compartment, obviously both nervous and psyched up as well. Quistis sat quietly across from us. Seifer leaned back calmly, inspecting his gunblade and the handgun magazines loaded with ammunition inside his coat pockets.

I had to lean my sword against the wall since I couldn't sit with it, and this brought unwanted attention from Seifer. He decided to comment about that.

"Hey newbie. Is the sword compensation for something?" he asked with a sneer, obviously hoping I would be pissed off. However I saw this coming a mile off as it was the generic insult to guys with big swords.

"Seifer, making comments about my manhood won't be getting a rise out of me. If you're going to insult me at least think up something more original." I ignored the loud sniggering from the fire and ice GFs in my head and the stunned looks I received from Zell, Quistis and, to a degree, Squall. However Seifer looked slightly annoyed that his ploy failed. He didn't press the issue. I made one final check over my pair of guns before relaxing.

After getting over his shock, Zell had been alternating between looking at Seifer's gunblade and my guns. It looked like he was intrigued by our weapons. The martial artist glanced at Squall and the weapon in his scabbard beside him.

"Yo, Squall, show me your gunblade, will ya?" he asked, hoping to get a look. However Squall had other plans and didn't say anything.

"C'mon man!" protests Zell. Still no reply.

"Just a peek!" Zell pleads, and yet Squall still stays silent.

"Tch, fine." Zell mutters, slumping back against his seat. "Why you bein' so selfish? Scrooooooge!"

I smile very slightly, and Squall still doesn't reply.

"Geez. Say something, will ya?" cries Zell. "C'mon, what's on your mind?"

"Nothing," murmurs Squall.

"Aha!" I cry suddenly. "It's alive!"

Zell and I laugh heartily, and Quistis just shakes her head, but there's a smile on her face. I continue to smile, my mission to ease the tension successful.

However the long silence that follows gets to the young brawler. Bored, he hopped to his feet, tossing punches at an unseen opponent. He bounced around, fists pumping, striking rapidly. I watched him out of mild interest, but mostly it was out of a lack of things to do. But Seifer had to spoil it.

"Stop that," Seifer said after a couple of minutes of Zell's shadow-boxing. "It's annoying." Zell did stop, to glare at Seifer, who put on a wide, diabolic smile, and leaned forward in his seat.

"Chicken-wuss," he taunted.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" Zell shouted back, and from the furious look on his face and the way Zell's muscles trembled, I expected him to beat Seifer to a pulp right there. I leaned to the side so Zell would have plenty of space to do so.

'**Yeah! Kick his ass!'** yelled Shiva.

'**Calm down Shiva,'** said Ifrit as he tried to calm the beautiful ice goddess down.

While Zell was enraged, Seifer just seemed amused, leaning back and laughing quietly to himself at Zell's response. Of course, this just got Zell angrier.

"I'm gonna beat your ass, you mother-" Zell threatened.

"Knock it off!" Quistis shouted, standing up. Both Seifer and Zell glanced her way, and reluctantly, Zell sat down, though Seifer still wore a smirk.

The vehicle drove on for some time, and silence once again reigned in the passenger compartment. Then Squall spoke up.

"…Instructor," Squall asked, looking up at Quistis. His use of words without prompting by others was quite unusual for everyone gathered in the vehicle, so his question attracted the curious stares of both Seifer, myself and Zell, as well as Quistis. "Who was that girl in the Infirmary this morning?"

Quistis leaned back, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Was there someone there? I don't remember," she answered. "Is there a problem?"

"No…" Squall said immediately. He looked back down at the floor. "Not really…"

Apparently, his quick response had been misunderstood by Seifer, who began laughing quietly to himself.

"This is great…" he muttered. "I have Chicken-wuss and a guy who just reached puberty in my squad…"

From his seat, Zell growled and sent Seifer a less than complimentary gesture.

* * *

Since there weren't any windows on the armoured car, except for the windscreen, I couldn't see the harbour town of Balamb. However I could just hear the sound of the waves over the drone of the car's engine. It wasn't long before the car stopped and we all piled out. Squall and Seifer first, followed by Quistis and Zell, with me grabbing Ragnarok and exiting last.

I paused to let my eyes adjust to the bright afternoon sun before looking at the assembled SeeDs on the docks and at the small fleet of vessels floating out at sea; Balamb Garden's naval troop transports, the NT-33 Salamanders.

The NT-33 Salamander was long and sleek, painted a deep blue, and outfitted with armoured plating and sliding doors on the front for deploying infantry forces. On top, there was a hatch leading to an upper observation post, complete with a high-caliber machinegun, which featured its own targeting computer, allowing for fire by someone manning the position or for remote control from the cockpit. The vessel seemed very organic, with smooth lines and curves. The topside post and its machinegun seemed to almost have grown out of the Salamander instead of being built.

I stretch my muscles before walking toward the vessel that Quistis stood next to. "Come on, move it!" Quistis shouted as she gestured to our group. I made my way over to her at a quick pace. I ducked my head as I went through the side entrance, and descended into the Salamander's cramped interior. I took the seat nearest to the entrance. Zell sat next to me, while Squall and Seifer sat on the opposite side of the cabin; however they still sat at a distance from each other. I placed Ragnarok on my lap and looked around as Quistis entered and made her way to the front.

The room was a combination armoury, passenger compartment, and briefing room, all compacted down into the small vessel, which necessarily economized on space. On the far wall was a large screen, obviously for the briefing purposes. On either side of the compartment were the seats, a low table separating them. On this table, I noted, were a number of stones, similar to the magic stone fragments I had harvested earlier from the Bite Bugs, but more… complete, was perhaps the proper word. However they were too small for Wizard Stones so that made them Magic Stones. Perfect for crafting Tier 2 magic spells. 'I guess they're going to allow us access to stronger spells.'

I heard the hatch close, and the engines fired up. Within moments the vessel was in motion, flying across the ocean towards their destination.

I heard someone talking to the pilot, then the hatch leading to the cockpit swung open and into the room stepped an attractive woman clad in a SeeD uniform. Her name was Xu, and she was a familiar enough sight to anyone who worked at or attended Garden.

Cid's second in command and personal assistant, Xu was a cool, confident brunette in her mid-twenties who worked hard at her job. She'd been with Garden for a very long time, and was a close friend of Quistis's. Rumour had it Xu wasn't from around the Balamb region, neither was she from any of the western nations or the reclusive country of Esthar, to the east. She certainly didn't look native; her face was slender and gently angled, her eyes were very dark - her whole general appearance hinted at being foreign. For me, she just looked Japanese.

"Hi, Quistis," Xu said with a smile as she stepped into the briefing room. The SeeD turned to face us.

"These are the members of Squad B," Quistis said, gesturing to the group. I stood up. Zell hopped up onto his feet, while Squall rose more slowly. Seifer remained seated.

"Nice to meet ya!" Zell said eagerly, saluting.

"Pleased to meet you," Squall added with his own salute, getting the formalities out of the way. Xu nodded at both of them, then looked over at me. I smiled and instead of saluting, I gave her a small bow. "A pleasure to meet a woman as beautiful as you," I say in a very polite voice. I could have sworn Xu actually blushed before she turned to Seifer, who hadn't bothered to get up.

"Seifer," Xu began with a smile, her tone sounding somewhat sarcastic and amused. "How many times has it been now?"

"Oh, I just love these exams," Seifer responded, both his voice and his grin dripping with sarcasm. Introductions out of the way, Xu stood by the screen.

"Be seated," she ordered, tapping a button by the screen. "I'll explain the current situation and the mission." I sat back down and focused on the screen.

"Our client for this mission is the Dollet Dukedom Parliament," Xu began.

Dollet. One of the western nations, a relatively minor coastal nation, specialized in shipping and transportation. Dollet's capital, bearing the same name, was the largest coastal city in the west, and was home to a large navy that matched the naval corps of the Dukedom's much larger neighbour, the Republic of Galbadia. Dollet was relatively peaceful, though it had been rocked by war over the years. The nation had once been a vast empire, dominating the entire eastern and northern regions of the western continent, until war with Galbadia had reduced it to barely a quarter of its original size.

"A request for SeeD was made eighteen hours ago," Xu continued to explain. On the screen, a map of Dollet's capital appeared. "Dollet has been under attack by the Galbadian Army since approximately seventy-two hours ago. Galbadian units advanced through the mountains west of the capital and assaulted the city." The map showed a collection of dots, indicating Dollet's units. The Dollet troops were shown falling back, mostly moving north towards the mountains, with a few moving south towards the beaches.

"Forty-nine hours into the battle, Dollet abandoned the majority of their positions in the inner city," Xu said. "Currently they have retreated into the mountains and are reorganizing their troops, preparing for a counter-offensive. Scattered units are still holding out inside the city itself, and a moderately-sized force is still fighting on the beaches, cut off from the mountains. That's the current status. Now, onto the mission objective." Xu tapped a button, and the map zoomed into the mountains west of the city. A large blue arrow, indicating the Galbadian forces, was shown moving through the mountains. "According to our reports, the Galbadian army is mopping up the Dollet troops in the mountain region. The majority of their troops are in the west, leaving the city open to counterattack." The map then zoomed out to show a red line leading from Balamb to Dollet; the path I knew the SeeDs and candidates were taking.

"We are to make a landing at Lapin Beach, and to link up with Dollet forces on the beaches and still inside the city. We will then eliminate the Galbadian army remaining inside the city and liberate it A.S.A.P." The map switched to show the mountain region again, with red semicircles indicating projected SeeD forces, right in the path of Galbadian blue arrows. "Afterwards, SeeD members and Dollet troops from within the city and the beaches will intercept any Galbadian forces attempting to make their way into the city from the mountain region. Hopefully, we will be able to destabilize the Galbadian forces long enough to allow the Dollet forces to counterattack from the mountains and inside the city, forcing the Galbadian army to withdraw." With that, the map vanished and the screen switched off.

"So," Seifer asked, still seeming uncertain about his coming role. "What are we supposed to do?"

'He's kinda slow,' I thought. Even though I knew what we were supposed to do, I could work out what our mission would be.

"After linking up with Dollet's troops, SeeD cadets are to liberate the city from the Galbadian army and to hold it in case of assault," Xu explained.

"Sounds important!" Zell said, excited.

"Sounds boring," Seifer shot back, more to deflate Zell than due to any actual boredom involved with the job. Liberating the city meant lots of combat, something Seifer would certainly relish.

"So, what you're saying," Seifer continued, smiling, "is that we do all the little, dirty work. Urban warfare, assaults, face-to-face combat? No silly escort mission like my last exam?" I looked, slightly questioningly, as Seifer. 'Escort mission?' I wondered. Xu didn't respond directly to Seifer's question, instead continuing with the briefing.

"It hardly needs to be said," she continued. "But the order to withdraw takes priority. Do not forget. Also, you will be assigned higher level magic than normal for this mission." Xu gestured to the stones on the table. "Refine those stones into whatever magic you think you will need. But remember, this test will focus also on your judgment and weapons skills. Only use magic-"

"-when we need to, yeah, yeah," Seifer responded, snatching up a handful of the stones. "Magic is limited and necessary for junctioning, we all know, it's not like we haven't been listening to the instructors for the last few years. I've done this exam twice already; I don't need the lecture a third time."

"I thought you would, Seifer," Xu responded, smiling. "You do seem to forget other important things concerning missions. Which is, of course, why this is your third exam." Seifer scowled at Xu's remark but said nothing. She stepped past them and walked into the cockpit, checked with the pilot, and then came back a second later.

"We're almost there," Xu said. "We anticipate a battle as soon as we disembark. Just be prepared." With that, Xu left the room, headed up the ladder leading to the topside machinegun post.

I grabbed six of the stones and separated them with three in each hand. I then concentrated on the three in my left hand and felt the items being absorbed into my skin, thanks to Shiva. I felt some Blizzara spell charges being stocked and nodded mentally. I then repeated the process with the last three in my right hand with Ifrit's help. They were refined into several Fira spells.

'Ok guys, can you list off the magic that I have so I can junction them?' I ask.

'**You have 14 Fires, 12 Blizzards, 7 Firas, 7 Blizzaras, 31 Sleeps and 17 Silences in stock,'** said Ifrit in his rumbling voice, which was now more gentlemanly sounding now.

'Ok, if I junction the fire element to my strength, which would be stronger, the low or mid level?'

'**They would be about the same since one Fira is the same as two Fire spells,'** supplied Ifrit.

'Ok,' I say before concentrating again. I moved my Fire stock to my strength and the Blizzards to my magic casting ability, or my Magic stat. I then moved my largest stockpile, Sleep, to my defence or Vitality stat. Thinking that would do for now, I started thinking of our enemy.

Galbadia was a powerful country, armed with cutting-edge technology and weaponry, along with a seemingly limitless number of troops. Although these troops were definitely no match for SeeDs; what the intervening SeeD force lacked in numbers they would more than make up for in skills, training and the edge presented by our Guardian Forces.

Quistis started passing out pictures and maps of Dollet, along with clear transparencies that showed the details of the areas and objectives. I made note of Dollet's streets, buildings, and docks, as well as the central plaza, strategic bridges crossing ravines, important mountain trails, even the communication tower up on the cliffs overlooking the city; the last comm's tower that handled the broadcasting of radio waves.

"My first real battle," Zell said, sounding excited, eager, and slightly anxious. "I'm getting pretty nervous…"

I spoke out before Seifer could be a prick. "It's normal to be nervous. It proves you're human," I say to him. However Seifer still speaks up.

"Better not piss in your pants," Seifer shot at him.

"You talking to me?" Zell responded. Seifer just laughed at him. "Bastard," the martial artist muttered under his breath.

"Okay, enough talk," Quistis said, tired of their typical butting of heads. "We'll be landing pretty soon. Get ready." We all nod, well Seifer doesn't but I don't care about him. I then think of an idea and look at Squall.

"Hey Squall," I say to catch his attention. It works and he focuses on me. "Since we're going up against Galbadia, I could do with some Thundara spells, but I don't have Quetzacotl to refine any. Could I draw some from you?" I ask. Surprisingly he nods. I smile and focus on him. I feel the Thundaras that he's stocked from the magic stone refining. I draw it out and I'm surprised that I feel a hefty amount transfer from him to me.

"Thanks man," I say. He nods before picking up some more of the stones and refining them to replace the Thundera charges I drew from him. I grab the last few and refine them into more Fira and Blizzara charges. I then switch my Fires with the Firas, making my muscles bulge slightly. I also switch the low ice spells to the higher level, making me more capable of dealing more damage with magic, along with the ability to draw more magic from enemies than usual.

I then feel Seifer looking at me and I raise my head to look at him. "Rookie, go see what's going on outside. Besides, we need someone manning the gun turret." For an instant, I considered refusing the jackass' order, but I realised that would lose points on my final score on the exam.

"Yes sir," I say with no emotion in my voice to betray the way I felt. I stand up, clasp Ragnarok to my back and walk out of the compartment towards the turret.

Xu was still up in the topside machinegun post when I went up there. She stepped aside and gave me some room. I leaned against the guardrail, watching the ocean fly past. The salty air whipped past us, and sent my long tail of hair fluttering in the wind. The ocean looked like a sea of gold, the colours cast by the dipping sun to the west. To either side of the vessel were the remaining nine Salamanders, cutting through the waters effortlessly.

"Seifer send you up?" Xu asked, to which I nodded. "Figures. He likes flexing his muscles." I remained silent, not knowing what to say. We stood there for a while, neither speaking.

Finally, Xu broke the silence again.

"You ready for this?" she asked. I was silent for a while before answering. "I'll probably claim my first kill today."

Xu nodded, seeming to understand. "It's always hard at first," she said.

I then stiffened my resolve. "But I will kill to protect the people precious to me. I will never stray from that path."

Xu looked at me. "That's a good bushido (Way of the Samurai) to live by," she said as she looked back to the sea. A dark line started to appear on the horizon.

"Dollet's ahead," she said. "Better head down below." With that, Xu clambered down the ladder, leaving me alone, manning the gun turret.

I closed my eyes and concentrated of feeling the wind against my face, trying to gain some form of peace until I heard the faint sounds of battle from the city. Opening my eyes I saw flashes of artillery shells and explosions, and distant figures on the beach, scurrying and fighting. Dollet's soldiers. If the vessels kept their course, we'd be ending up right in the middle of that war zone.

I looked at the battle ahead of me in fierce resolve. This is it. The moment of judgement.

It was time for battle.


	6. Chapter 6: Sweeping Through the City

_**Standard Issue Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII is the property of Squaresoft. Naruto is the property of Shouen Jump. Dragon Ball Z is the property of Akira Toriyama. All characters, locations, and concepts except for original creations belong to them.**_

**Chapter 6: Sweeping Through the City**

I staggered back slightly as the Salamanders sped up towards Lapin beach. I hung on tightly as the vessel that I was riding on blasted through the harbour wall. I could hear chunks of stone or concrete scrape against the hull, and the Salamander went flying up into the air before splashing back down into the water.

"We're about to land!" the pilot shouted. "Prepare to disembark!" I drew my guns as the Salamander slowed down and came to a stop, sliding onto the beach. I saw the front hatch open and Squall, Zell, Seifer, Quistis and Xu disembark. I jumped highly into the air and landed next to Zell. I grinned at him as I brandished my guns. I spotted several squads of olive-clad Dollet troopers ahead, charging towards a machinegun nest that was spraying gunfire at a group of SeeD vessels further down the beach. Two of the soldiers hurled grenades and the nest blew apart. With the nest eliminated, a group of SeeDs quickly advanced, linking up with the allied troops. I spotted more SeeDs and cadets moving out. It seemed our squad was the last to have landed.

"Hurry!" Quistis shouted as Xu ran past her, joining with a combined group of SeeDs and Dollet troops. "Your objective is to secure the Central Square. SeeD cadet support will be behind you, and Dollet forces will be there as soon as possible to back you up. We expect Galbadian units to come through there if they counterattack us. Hold it until reinforcements arrive."

I nodded, knowing that the Central Square was the main hub for Dollet's streets. It was a critical location and needed to be enforced. I glanced at Seifer, who turned slowly to face the city.

"Let's move out," the order came, and Seifer led the charge up Lapin Beach.

Lapin Beach probably would have been beautiful if it weren't for the smoke, fires, and dead bodies littering its length, with craters dotting the sands. Something exploded to the right as we continued to advance. Up ahead, I could see another cadet squad, our support, obviously, crouched by a staircase leading up from the beach to the city streets. The support squad seemed to be examining the wall next to the staircase, one rummaging through an access panel. Seifer charged up the stairway, which lead to a street that passed under a pair of archways. The street extended straight ahead, but where they had come up it also turned away to the right. We couldn't advance down the right path, as it was blocked by a gaping hole from an artillery blast and the burning remains of a vehicle.

Seifer began to advance down the street ahead when he spotted something and fell back. He held up two fingers to us behind him, and ducked around the corner of the building around which the street turned. I quickly grabbed Zell and pulled him to the side behind Seifer, understanding the signal and Seifer's movement to ambush. Squall also understood the signal and ducked behind us. A moment later, a pair of Galbadian soldiers came charging down the street and past us.

The Galbadians were clad in combat uniforms and armour, consisting of a blue uniform, along with steel armour over their chest, shoulders, forearms, and shins, black boots and gloves. Each soldier wore a steel-grey helmet that covered the entire head, excepting the mouth, nose, and chin. The helmet had no clear visor or goggles, instead featuring a small trio of red sensors on the front over the soldiers' eyes that gave them full night, thermal, and electro-magnetic vision, as well as normal vision. Around their waists they wore belts with items and a few grenades. Their shoulder armour proudly displayed the white Galbadian insignia. Both soldiers carried steel swords with sabre-like hand guards, and also had rifles slung over their shoulders, standard issue weapons for Galbadian soldiers.

The soldiers spotted us too late, as Seifer leapt toward the first one. The man raised his sword up in time to block an overhead swipe, but Seifer broke off and spun around low, sweeping Hyperion up under the soldier's sword, the blade slicing up into his chest, cleaving through the armour.

"Dollet reinforcements?" The other cried in shock as he fell back. I drew my guns and shot the soldier four times, one in each limb to disable him, with pinpoint accuracy. Zell came up beside me and closed in on the Galbadian. The martial artist struck with a single, quick blow, a flying roundhouse kick that landed a solid blow against the soldier's temple. There was a wet crunch of shattered vertebrae, and the force of the impact sent the soldier flying away with its Guardian Force-enhanced strength.

The area secured, Seifer gestured down the street.

"Come on!" He charged ahead, not waiting for either of us to follow. I heard the sound of feet clanging on the staircase behind us, and spun to face whoever was there; my guns raised in case they were more Galbadians.

I lowered my guns when I saw that they were just the SeeD cadet support. Immediately, they looked down and around, examining the nearby phone and HD cable lines.

"There should be an info-net cable around here somewhere . . ." the cadet remarked.

"Whatcha looking for?" Zell asked the cadets.

"Info-net cables, so we can hack into the Dollet mainframe, or at least get some intelligence," another cadet replied. "We gotta do what we can without the use of radio waves!"

"So, unlike you guys, we use our heads!" the first cadet said, tapping his temple and smiling superiorly.

"Backup duty," Squall muttered, shaking his head. It seemed he disliked the sound of being support, "sounds boring."

"Yeah!" Zell shouted, agreeing. "We're going to be the heroes on the front line!"

"Yeesh," the second cadet muttered, shaking his head. "All you meatheads are the same, flexing your muscles and waving your swords. Get to your station, will ya?"

"We're on it. And Squall, you shouldn't make fun of their job. Information is the most valuable resource in any type of battle, whether it be a simple skirmish or full on war," I said. Both the first and second cadet stopped what they were doing to give me a friendly look. "Guess you do have a brain that isn't swamped with adrenaline," said the first cadet respectfully.

I nodded to them before we ran onward. Seifer was waiting for us, and frowned at our delay.

"Hurry your asses up! Squad C is up ahead!" he ordered before resuming the charge.

We continued advancing, alert for an ambush. We passed numerous shops and stores, and I was surprised this area hadn't been as badly hit as the other sections of Dollet. It was as if no one had used these streets during the battle. There was no one out on the streets now, not even any dead bodies. We certainly didn't encounter any threats as we advanced towards the Central Square. The streets were eerily empty.

"This is strange," I noted, looking around. "Xu said there were more Galbadians inside the city, but there aren't any here." Seifer shook his head unhappily.

"Just our luck, we got the route with the fewest enemies," he hissed. "The Galbadians are probably all over on the other side of the city, fighting the rest of the SeeD force." Seifer and the rest of us paused in front of a tavern, featuring a neon sign that read 'The Shining Bomber' above its door. "They get to have all the fun while we're stuck on the back streets!"

"That does suck, but our first priority is the mission. We can't afford to take a detour to butt heads with the enemy," I reasoned. Seifer snorted but said nothing. Then, the captain froze. He quickly looked up, Hyperion rising into a ready position.

I followed his gaze and spotted a squad of Galbadians directly overhead, standing on a walkway that led from the tavern's second floor to across the street. Already the Galbadians had spotted us, and more than half of them drew swords and leaped down to the attack. The remaining soldiers unslung their rifles and pointed them down at us below.

Two of the dropping men didn't make down unscathed, as Seifer slashed one open before he'd even hit the ground. The other man looked surprised as Zell ducked right beneath him and grabbed one of his legs. The martial artist spun, redirecting the momentum of his opponent's fall and hurling him like a rag doll through the glass window of another shop.

As Squall and the others were taking care of the soldiers on the ground, I focused my attention on the soldiers pointing their guns at us. I poured my Ki energy into my legs and feet and started running at the side of a building. I ran up the side of the building for a few meters before pushing off strongly to the other side of the alleyway. My feet connected with the other side and I pushed off again, this time I sailed over the heads of the snipers. They looked on in what I guessed was awe and horror as I turned around in mid air so I was pointing downward. I smiled grimly and pulled the triggers of my guns. I fired four bullets that found their mark into the four Galbadian sniper's heads. They fell instantly as I flipped once in the air before landing in a kneeling position.

Strangely I didn't feel anything about my first kills. However I didn't have time to ponder this as more soldiers rushed out from an alley. Several more bullets later and I was safe. I looked to see how the others were doing.

Well it seemed that Zell was doing fine. Two soldiers had rushed the blonde brawler but things didn't go planned for the two. Zell ducked under the first slash, grabbed that man's extended arm with his right hand, and slammed his left fist into the soldier's elbow, shattering it. The unfortunate Galbadian cried out in pain and dropped his sword. The second soldier came in, sword slashing, and Zell spun his first foe into the path of his second, using the man's body as a shield. The second soldier's sword buried into the first man's back, to both Galbadians' shock.

The second soldier spent a moment too long gaping at what he'd done, and even as he was drawing his sword free, a fireball shot across the battlefield, courtesy of Seifer and exploded into the remaining Galbadian, blasting him to the ground, leaving him badly burned and in no condition to fight.

"Did you see that?" one of the soldiers said in shock, looking at his dead comrade.

"SeeDs!" another soldier said, realizing who their foes were. "Elite forces from Garden!" he levelled his rifle at Zell, the only cadet still out in the open. Zell spotted the man and dove under the walkway, bullets marking his path. At the same time, Squall came out from under the walkway, gesturing at them and hurling a bolt of lightning, a Thunder spell. The first soldier was blasted off his feet. The survivors opened fire, but Squall was already gone, back under cover.

However, Seifer wasn't. He took advantage of his opponent's distraction and ran out under the other side of the walkway. Before the Galbadians spotted him, Seifer launched another Fire spell their way, dropping another soldier.

"They're just kids!" the last one protested as he dove below the walkway's solid metal railing and out of Seifer's lethal line of sight. However a few seconds and a couple of gunshots later, one of the cadets from Squad C leaned over the railing.

"Squad C's in charge here!" the cadet shouted down to us. "Leave the rest to us!"

"What the hell took you so long!" Seifer shouted angrily, obviously perturbed by their poor timing.

"We're fire support, not front line!" the cadet responded. "Plus, we're short-handed, one of our members is sick."

"Yeah," another cadet added, appearing over the railing. "We weren't about to go charging out, guns blazing, against that many!"

"...cowards," Seifer muttered. He turned back to us. "Come on, Central Square's just ahead!" Seifer charged on, leading us down the street.

We continued down Dollet's streets, Seifer leading, and encountered no more Galbadian enemies. As with before, the streets were eerily empty. And of course, this made Seifer understandably unhappy.

"Hey! All you Galbadian cowards out there!" he challenged suddenly and loudly, brandishing his gunblade. "Come out'n show your faces! Don't leave me hanging here!" When no response came, Seifer shook his head and charged on. "If you're not coming out, I'm coming in for you!"

"What an idiot," Zell muttered, but he continued, like the rest of us, to follow him toward the destination. We rounded a corner and came within sight of the Central Square. Seifer had already arrived there, and was looking around angrily for targets.

The Central Square was more of a large circle, surrounded by restaurants and hotels, with a tall, exquisitely sculpted statue topping a beautiful fountain in the centre. Roads ran from the central hub out to various locations around Dollet, though some of these were blocked off by damaged or destroyed cars or rubble. As Squall, Zell and myself arrived, Seifer turned around and looked back at us.

"Having fun yet?" Seifer asked us, smiling. I smirked back. "Sure am!" I answered. Which was true, I was having fun. And it made me sick to think that I enjoyed this.

"**Don't worry about it. You're probably reacting to the ****adrenaline**** from fighting. You don't seem the type of person to relish in killing people,"** said Shiva, speaking for the first time since the landing.

"**Shiva's right. You aren't that type of person," **added Ifrit.

I stayed silent for a few seconds before smiling. 'Thanks guys, that really helps.'

At that moment a lone Galbadian leaped out from behind the statue and slashed his sword down at Seifer's head. In a single deft motion Seifer spun away from his attacker, then spun back and sliced his blade down on the man's chest. The threat eliminated, Seifer surveyed the area.

"There may be more . . ." he warned us. "Alright, I want you three to scout the surrounding area for any more enemies." We nodded and fanned out, checking for any more distinctive blue uniforms, while Seifer watched the surrounding area, including a pair of streets that were not blocked off.

After I didn't find any other soldiers in my corner, I returned to the middle of the square. Squall had turned up empty but Zell ran into a Galbadian and whooped him quite well.

"I think that's all of them," Squall said, nodding. "I didn't find any in my area."

"Well, then," Seifer said, walking back into the Central Square. "We're on standby until the enemy comes." He shook his head as he reached the statue, letting out a dramatic sigh. "Standby . . . how boring." He began pacing, like a caged lion. Both Squall and Zell relaxed, but remained on their guard, watching the intact streets for any coming Galbadians. I let myself relax as well. All this suspense was making my muscles tense. I stretched to loosen them up before closing my eyes to rest them.

We waited a good twenty minutes, with nothing to interest us, save for the occasional staccato of gunfire in the distance. Suddenly, a deep explosion sounded in the distance, the boom catching our attention. The explosion was followed by higher-pitched gunfire, and more explosions.

The counterattack had begun. Dollet and SeeD forces were now engaging the Galbadians returning to the city, which meant the enemy, should be passing through here eventually.

"Sounds like its starting," Squall remarked. Seifer grinned in anticipation.

"Bring it on," he responded, gripping his gunblade. He ran across the Square to the street leading to where the general sound of the battle could be heard. "Hey! Galbadians! What are you waiting for!" Seifer challenged again, gunblade slicing through the air angrily. "Show me what you've got!"

Apparently, the Galbadians didn't hear him, for no one came. He stood there for a good fifteen to twenty minutes, waiting for any sign of the enemy, but in the end, Seifer turned around, disappointed. He leaned against the wall of a nearby restaurant, gunblade bouncing impatiently on his shoulder. Zell began to pace in bored tension after a while. Another half-hour passed, marked by distant ringing of an old clock tower somewhere in the city, and even Squall became tired of waiting. At this point I was pissed that there was nothing to do. Very boring. There wasn't even any sign of the dog that Seifer yells at in the game. However I knew that this would change soon.

I glanced at Zell, who was clenching his teeth, and then pounded a fist into the asphalt.

"…the HELL!" he yelled, frustrated. "Now this is what I call boring!" Zell looked up and around, then back in the direction of the battle. "This ain't right man," he said, shaking his head. "You'd think we would have heard or seen something!" Zell resumed his pacing.

"Hmph," Seifer said, watching Zell. He glanced up in the direction of the battle, down the street he'd been standing impatiently at. "Damn Galbadians. Still keeping us waiting . . ."

I was about to reply when we all noted the sound of boots running in our direction. Lots of boots.

'It's about time.' I thought.

"Move it, move it!" a shout came from the direction of one of the blocked streets. I glanced down the street to see Galbadian soldiers, lots of them, scrambling over the destroyed vehicles. Many carried equipment or heavy backpacks, and some looked to be technicians, judging by the extra equipment built into their armour.

"It's the enemy," Squall warned quietly. Quickly, he dropped back, with me pulling Zell down behind the fountain statue and out of sight. There were a lot of them, maybe too many to challenge without thinning their ranks using Guardian Forces.

'Ifrit, Shiva, get ready to attack encase they spot us,' I said in my mind.

"**Roger!" **they both said.

I glanced at Seifer, expecting the captain to brashly attack our foes, but apparently he didn't like the odds either, and had slunk back out of sight around the corner of the building.

The lead soldier came into the Square, and looked around. I tensed, preparing to unleash the GF's upon them if we were spotted…

…but the Galbadian simply turned back to his fellow soldiers and waved his hand, indicating for them to hurry up and follow him. The whole force, half-dozen five men squads at least, ran down another street, one leading across a bridge into the mountains north of the city.

"Where the hell they going?" Zell asked as soon as the enemy was out of sight. "Nothing up there."

"Actually, there is," I said. The rest of the squad turned to me.

"The Dollet Communications Tower is up there. It uses radio waves to broadcast info and material. However since the collapse of the use of Radio waves it hasn't been used for quite awhile," I explained.

"Well now, that's our next destination," Seifer said, pointing his gunblade up at the tower.

Zell shoots him a look. "But that's against orders."

Seifer gives him a calm glance before saying, "Weren't you just whining about how bored you were?"

"Squall," Zell whined looking at him with pleading eyes.

Squall sighed. "I stand by the captain's decision."

Then all three of them turn to look at me, each face different. Seifer looked at me expectantly, Zell's practically silently begging me, and Squall looks as though he doesn't really care what I say. Nice guy, isn't he?

I sighed. "Our orders are to follow the captain's orders," I stated.

"But that's disobeying orders!" Zell cried. "The Headmaster appointed us to stay here."

"Zell," I said, getting his attention. "One of the duties of a soldier is to follow his commander. However if the commander disobeys the orders of his superiors then it will be him that will be reprimanded for the decision, not us."

Zell looked like he was pondering over these words. After a few seconds he nodded. "Ok," he said, his voice subdued.

"Seifer, if we're gonna go, let's hurry," Squall said. The captain nodded, and turned to face the street that led to the mountains.

"The enemy is headed for that facility," he ordered. "We, Squad B, are to secure the summit and determine their intentions. Move out!" That done, Seifer took off down the street, myself and Squall right behind him with Zell, reluctantly, following.

(AN: Give me the lowdown on anything you liked or disliked as well as any questions you might have. I will try my best to answer them, providing they don't spoil anything too bad.)


	7. Chapter 7: Comms Tower Assault

_**Standard Issue Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII is the property of Squaresoft. Naruto is the property of Shouen Jump. All characters, locations, and concepts except for original creations belong to them.

* * *

**_

**Chapter 7: Comms Tower Assault**

It took fifteen minutes to finally reach the bridge leading from the outskirts of the city up into the mountains, and once again we encountered no resistance. Aside from the distant sounds of gunfire, Dollet's streets had been ominously empty once more.

"Is this a ghost town?" Zell whispered as we approached the bridge. All of us were alert and ready as the bridge came into sight. The bridge itself connected the city proper with the mountains across a deep but narrow ravine. We all knew that the bridge was an easily defensible and observable location, so it was almost assured that the Galbadians had set up some kind of sentry or defensive position there. We were not disappointed (or rather, Seifer was not), as a group of over a dozen Galbadians stood around the bridge, a few at either end and some scattered soldiers along its hundred or so foot length.

"So do we have some sort of plan or are we just gonna charge?" I asked. This didn't happen in the game so I was more than a little cautious.

"We charge," Seifer replied in all seriousness. "I'll lead with Squall. You and Zell, you're right behind us, cover us with magic." The orders were simple enough, and before anyone could raise a question, Seifer began running down the bridge at full speed, gunblade drawn. Squall nodded and was right behind him.

"Crazy idiots," I muttered before looking around for any soldiers acting as makeshift snipers. It seemed that the Galbadians weren't expecting this sudden suicidal charge so they were a little disorientated. By the time they had gotten over their surprise, Squall and Seifer had reached the first squad and were hacking away.

A few soldiers aimed their weapons at the gunblade wielding duo but before they had a chance to fire I focused three fire spells and released them. Since this was my first time casting magic I wasn't expecting the feeling of warmth that spread throughout my body. One second later the feeling vanished and the soldiers were thrown into the air as my fireballs hit their targets.

Now that the soldiers in that sniper nest had been dispatched, I looked at Zell to see him finishing up with his targets. We then both nodded at each other before running over to where Squall and Seifer were. They were roughly two thirds through and weren't slowing down. Squall was so busy overcoming one soldier that he didn't notice one coming at him from behind. I drew Oathkeeper and shot him just in time. Squall heard the gun shot and turned around to see the soldier collapse onto the ground just two meters away from him. He looked at me and nodded before slicing the last soldier across the chest.

Zell and I came to a halt next to Squall and Seifer. I looked over to the grey trench coat wearing swordsman and asked, "Are you alright?"

Seifer spun to face me. "Of course I'm alright. Did you think one of those soldiers could have touched me, let alone injure me?"

I sighed. "I was just checking that's all. No need to bite my head off."

We continued on past the bridge and started up the paved path that would take us to the Comms Tower. As we past a section of the path that had bushes on both sides, those bushes rustled. We dropped into defensive stances and waited. However it was just an injured Dollet soldier.

'Wait a minute. I remember what happens here. I have to fight against a huge snake. Great. I hate snakes, Leviathan being the exception,' were my gloomy thoughts.

"Who . . . are you?" the soldier asked, clutching a wound in his leg. Like the other soldiers, the Dollet trooper wore an olive uniform that blended in well with the mountainous terrain, along with a helmet featuring a steel visor and a ninja mask covering his face.

"Don't worry," Squall said to the wounded soldier. "We're SeeD cadets, dispatched by Garden to support you."

"What's going on up there?" Seifer asked, looking up the mountain trail. From his vantage point, he could see more Dollet troops dead or unconscious along the trail. "What are they after?"

"The Galbadians . . ." the soldier began. "They've entered the Communications Tower. I don't know why, it's been abandoned for years. On top of that, this place has always been a nesting ground for monsters. If you guys are going up, you'd better be caref-"

The soldier didn't get finished with his warning when a terrible hissing growl erupted from the bushes behind him. Something grabbed the man's leg and began pulling him back.

"Help!" he cried as he was yanked into the shrubbery with a violent jerk. Squall and Zell dove forward, Squall drawing his Revolver while Zell hooked his arms around the man's torso and pulled, testing his considerable strength against that of this new foe.

Even as Zell was pulling hard, we all saw our foe, a huge green-brown monstrosity, like a giant snake, its jaws clamped around the soldier's foot.

Wasting no time I whipped out Oblivion and shot it in the head. The creature immediately let go of the Dollet soldier and faced me, towering over us as Zell dragged the wounded and poisoned soldier to the side. I quickly replaced the gun with my sword and, using Ki energy to speed up my feet and strengthen my sword, I gave Ragnarok an incredible, two-handed slash; the sword slicing through the neck and creating a bright blue glowing afterimage. The head of the snake flew up and soared through the air a good several meters before plummeting back to earth. If one were to look at this scene, they would have thought I was the son of the GF Odin.

I sighed. "Thank god that's over," I said. I then turned to my team mates and saw them gobsmacked. Zell jaw was scraping the ground and his eyed were bulging. Squall was considerably less surprised as I had shown some of this earlier this afternoon. That didn't stop him from looking at me with awe. But Seifer was truly hilarious. He didn't look like Zell or Squall, but his mouth was hanging open. The reason this was so funny was because I would never imagine this expression on him ever.

I turned around and did my sword spin before placing it back in its place on my back and said, "C'mon guys, let's get a move on," before taking out an Antidote potion vial and flicking it towards Zell. He caught it and quickly administered the potion to the Dollet soldier before we all continued on.

* * *

"The generator is up and running!" one of the Galbadian techs reported to his commander, who stood in front of the mechanical doors leading into the Communications Tower.

"No problem with the power boosters!" the other tech said optimistically.

His optimism would not have been so great if he had known that they were being observed. On a cliff a good forty feet away from the doors and about fifteen feet up above the soldiers, Squall, Seifer, Zell and I crouched, watching the soldiers go about their business.

"What the hell they doing?" Seifer wondered out loud.

"Cable disconnection confirmed!" yet another tech shouted. "Beginning exchange process!"

"Roger," the first tech replied. With that, the group of soldiers turned and moved inside the building.

"Sounds to me like they're trying to get this place up and running," I replied to Seifer's question, however I kept my eyes fixed ahead. After the soldiers had moved inside and out of sight I stood and stretched, Zell doing the same.

"Who cares," Seifer responded, standing up himself and dusting himself off. He turned towards Squall. "This must be your first real battle," he remarked suddenly, shifting the subject. "You scared?"

" . . . I don't know," Squall replied. 'He probably thinks that if you're afraid then you wouldn't be able to respond. And that would get you killed,' I thought to myself.

**"Well it does make sense. The body freezes up when you feel a large amount of fear. It's just the way human body and minds are made,"** said Ifrit.

"I try not to think about it," Squall added. "I have objectives to complete, and I will complete them. If someone stands in my way, I'll shove them aside. If they come at me to harm me, my comrades, or any innocents, then I'll cut them down without remorse." Squall left it at that, his voice telling Seifer he was not afraid to kill to protect his life or another's. I smiled. 'At least he looks at us and thinks we're comrades,' I thought.

"Hm," Seifer said, smiling. "Good. No fear, no regrets. Kill or be killed."

"What about you?" Squall asked. "You scared?"

"Ha!" Seifer responded, barking a laugh. "I love battles. I fear nothing!" He smiled and his voice lowered, as if he were imparting a secret. "The way I look at it, as long as you make it out of a battle alive, you're one step closer to fulfilling your dream."

"What? Your dream?" Squall asked aloud in surprise. 'Sounds like he wasn't expecting something like that coming from Seifer.'

"You have one too, don't you?" Seifer replied. Squall looked like he was about to say something but shook his head. "Sorry," he said. "I'm gonna pass on that subject."

'Hmmm... I wonder what he was just about to say,' I thought curiously. In the game you weren't able to see the emotions on the character's faces because it was just a bunch of pixels. The graphics at that time weren't sophisticated enough to show facial emotion. Not like the next gen graphics of Final Fantasy XIII. But in real life... or somewhat real, emotions were as clear as day. That added a layer of depth I had never experienced in FF8.

Zell, who had been watching the doors the whole time for any signs of activity, turned to the two gunbladers, interested in their "buddy-buddy" conversation.

"Yo!" he said, stepping up towards them. "Let me in on it, too!"

"Mind your own business," Seifer remarked dismissively. Zell's eyes widened, and a growl escaped his throat as he turned around and snapped off a couple of punches into the air.

"What's the matter Zell?" Seifer asked, smiling. Zell glanced back over his shoulder. "Swatting flies?" Once again, Seifer's remark had gotten under Zell's skin, judging by the look of fury on Zell's face.

I then stepped in front of Zell, looking at Seifer. "Stop being so immature. If you're going to be a SeeD, then you need to stop acting childish and petty." I then sighed and turned away. "But then again, you probably wouldn't even listen to me." I looked back to see that Seifer's eyes were narrowed at me before he made a dismissing sound.

"Phsh... No need to take it so seriously," he said before he turned and walked down the path to our right, which led down to the entrance to the Communications Tower.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Zell smiling at me. "Thanks man," he said.

I smiled back. "No probs Zell," I replied. "I got ya back!"

"There you are!" called a voice from behind and above us. We spun around to see a girl, another cadet, perched on a slight mound of stone behind them, one we ourselves had scaled earlier to get to this very vantage point.

I recognized the green eyes, small frame, brown curls, and ultra cute appearance of Selphie. She looked out of place for a SeeD cadet. With her oversized nunchaku strapped to her back, she seemed about as dangerous as a plushy toy moogle dressed in a combat uniform with a plastic bazooka, knowing how much she wanted to use one in the future.

She looked tired, and was panting hard. Obviously not from the climb; we hadn't broken a sweat on the climb up here, even at the fast pace Seifer had set. Stepping forward, the girl suddenly slipped, her boots sliding along the stones. Her arms pinwheeled for a second, and then down she tumbled, coming to a stop right in front of us.

"You ok?" I asked. In response, she threw me a wink and a poking tongue. I rolled my eyes in my mind, wondering how many times I had seen that expression on anime girls. Too many to count. It was considered the generic expression for them.

"I'm fine!" she said with a high-pitched giggle that screamed overwhelming cuteness. No wonder Irvine falls for her hard. "Are you guys Squad B?" she asked, sounding hopeful. I grinned. "That we are. We are the courageous, the heroic, the team that's just overflowing with awesomeness, the famous Squad B!" I spoke grandly and dramatically. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Zell grin widely and Squall rolling his eyes, but with the tiniest hints of a smile. Selphie giggled. "Oh, wait a minute," she said suddenly as she noticed Squall, recognition flashing in her eyes. ". . . I know you! You're the guy who showed me around earlier today! Thanks!"

She then turned back to me. "I'm a messenger. Name's Selphie, from Squad A. I'm looking for the squad captain, his name is Seifer, right?" I nodded. "He went over..." I trailed off as I turned to look in the direction Seifer had gone down the trail. The path curved down and around to the left. "Well, he was down there," I said before I, Zell and Squall tuned to the left.

And to no surprise, we spotted our captain down below, running towards the front entrance to the Communication Tower, Hyperion drawn. Seifer turned back to face us, though I got the feeling he was looking at Squall; a smile on his face.

"One of these days," he called towards Squall, "I'm gonna tell you about my romantic dream!" With that proclamation, Seifer spun around and hurled himself through the doors into the tower. I laughed before I turned to everyone.

"Well, we might as well go after him," I said before jumping up and off the cliff. I flipped through the air and landed with my right hand on the ground; my left hovering behind me. My right leg was bend at the knee and my left was outstretched. I knew that I had just landed almost exactly the same as Zack had when jumping off the train at the start of Crisis Core, and the fact that it looked super cool, but I didn't care.

...well maybe a little.

I turned and looked up to see my teammates looking at me in shock. They then looked even more so as Selphie jumped after me. She landed without any problems and waved up at the last two on the cliff.

"Hurry up! Come on, come on!"

After a few moments, Squall jumped off. He chose to slide down the last thirty feet of the steep slope, knocking loose dirt and pebbles before coming to a stop in front of the entrance. Even as he turned around to see if Zell was following, he heard a tremendous shout from above.

"Geronimoooooo!" Zell cried as he leaped clear off the edge, not even bothering to slide down. He landed on his feet, immediately transferring the momentum of his fall into a springing flip forward and coming to a stop, standing unharmed.

"Nice you three!" I said before I turned and began to turn towards the closed doors of the Communication Tower.

Doors which suddenly swung open, and out of which scrambled a group of unarmed Galbadian techs, screaming for their lives and running as fast as they could past the cadets and up the trail to the right. Behind them, chasing the men out with swipes of a bloody gunblade, was Seifer.

"Cowards!" he shouted after them, before spinning around and returning to the tower.

"Hey!" Selphie shouted at his disappearing form, but either Seifer ignored her or didn't hear the messenger. "The captain's getting away!" Selphie moaned, running after Seifer.

"C'mon guys. Let's go," I said as the three of us followed Selphie and our wayward captain.

The inside of the tower was dark and sparse, with a few faint, blinking lights scattered on metal panels on the walls. A large column stood in the center, which appeared to be part of an elevator shaft that lead to the upper floors. But all that was taken in peripherally, for our attention was taken away by what else the room contained.

A dozen or more corpses of Galbadian soldiers littered the floor or slumped against walls, slashed, stabbed, cut, or burned by magic. Blood was splattered along the walls or in pools underneath the dead soldiers. Many men still held weapons clutched in a tight death grip, and bullet holes and destroyed electronics were scattered around the room. Several corpses were decapitated or burned beyond recognition.

"Damn! Talk about overkill," I muttered to myself but everyone heard what I said.

"Did . . . did the captain do all this?" Selphie asked in disbelief.

"I'd say so," I replied, walking over to the recall button for the elevator. It began to descend slowly.

Then, overhead, they heard a shout. There was a distant clang of metal, and then another shout, followed by a long scream that quickly increased in volume. We looked up in time to see a figure, a Galbadian soldier, fall the rest of the way down to the bottom floor. The man slammed into the metal and rolled a few feet away, dead or unconscious. I looked back up above, to the sounds of distant combat.

"Ow..." Zell said in response to the fall.

A moment later, the elevator finished its stately descent and stopped. They piled on board, and Squall checked the panel.

"Let Seifer have his fun. We'll meet him at the top," I said. Squall nodded; hit the button for the top floor, and the elevator began its stately rise up towards the pinnacle of the building.

"Wow," Selphie said, looking down at the view below them. "This lift is pretty cool!" She leaned over the edge and looked down to the floor far below.

"Be careful," Zell warned. "Don't get too excited or you'll fall!"

"Like I'm really gonna," Selphie responded, sounding a bit indignant and sticking her tongue out at the martial artist. The lift then jerked slightly, making the girl wobble before tipping over. I grabbed her arm and tugged her back onto the platform before giving Selphie the 'Shoud'a listened' look. She grinned sheepishly.

We reached the top and looked around for signs of Seifer, but he was nowhere to be seen. However a soldier who wore a red uniform with armor that resembled that of any other soldier, excepting heavier armor and extra equipment in the arms, which lended his arms added strength. Mounted underneath his wrists were a pair of machine pistols, giving the major extra firepower.

'Biggs,' I said to myself. 'Wedge must be close by.'

Biggs seemed to be totally engrossed in his repair work that he didn't notice us. "This goes here . . . There! It's complete!" Biggs shouted triumphantly.

Beneath our feet, we heard a deep thrumming, and tower began vibrating slightly but rapidly. Nearby, I spotted a wrench sliding out of Biggs's bag of tools and fall through a hole in the floor panels, dropping hundreds of feet into the sea below.

I spun as a cylinder, at least fifty feet tall, shot up behind me. It reached the apex of the tower and stopped. Everything was still for a moment, and then the cylinder began turning, like a massive cannon. It rotated to the west, and then, the top half of the cylinder split into three sections around a central antenna. The three sections spread outward, forming a disk around the antenna, then curved inward, becoming a convex satellite dish. The antenna seemed to open up then, with many smaller antennae branching out and pointing in the same direction as the central device. Moments later, a faint white beam of light began to extend outward from the dish, a beam that quickly solidified into a strong white line shooting off into the sky.

I whistled softly at the sight. Next to me Selphie, Squall and Zell were mesmerized, though Squall quickly broke away and looked at the lone Galbadian officer in front of him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Squall demanded, startling the soldier. He spun around, and jumped again as he saw himself outnumbered.

"Huh?" he said in confusion. Then, Biggs snarled, seeing how his opponents were just kids. "Likewise, MISTER! What do you think you're doing?" He then paused as he took note of our weapons. When he looked at me I grinned and unsheathed Ragnarok. I wouldn't use it on him but the look of fear on his face was amusing to say the least. He looked like he was just about to piss himself.

"H-hey!" Biggs exclaimed, now very nervous. "What happened to all the soldiers down below?" He looked around desperately for any of his men. "Wedge!" he yelled. "Take care of these twerps!"

We looked around, but no-one answered the call. "W . . . Wedge?" Biggs called, and he looked around again. Zell stood impassively, hands on his hips, while Selphie just put her hands behind her back casually. We knew that, for the moment, he really was alone up here.

"I . . . ah . . ." Biggs sounded rather nervous now. "Well . . . ah . . . " Then a plan came to him. "I seem to be done here, so I'll just be on my . . ." Suddenly, he raised one of his arms, pointing the machine pistol at Squall. The other arm crossed over that one, the pistol pointing at Zell. With both cadets frozen in place by the weapons leveled at them, he began moving towards the elevator. "I-I'm leaving! Move it!" Zell quickly got out of his opponent's way, glancing at Squall for what he should do. Squall just shrugged.

"Let him go," Squall told Zell, who nodded. I glanced to the side, hearing the sound of the elevator rising back up. 'He's in for a nasty surprise,' I thought.

"Yeah!" Biggs shouted. "Get out of my way! Move! Move!" The officer had reached the elevator, which had almost reached the top . . .

. . . and was carrying a certain white trenchcoat-wearing squad captain.

Before Biggs knew what had happened, one of his arms was knocked aside by Seifer's gunblade, and then the captain's free left hand shot out and took the officer in the mouth. Biggs was stunned, and before he could recover, Seifer kicked him in the chest, knocking him back.

"Sorry to crash the party. Grab him!" Seifer ordered. Squall and Zell quickly took the officer, hooking their arms under his and holding him fast.

"Ahhhhh!" Biggs screamed. "Are you CRAZY?"

"Just shut up!" Seifer replied. "Lookie what we got here. What are you guys planning to do with this tower, huh?"

"You brats!" Biggs replied, struggling to get free, though the GF- enhanced strength of Squall and Zell (especially Zell) held him fast. "Prepare for the worst!" he threatened unconvincingly.

"Looks who's talking," Seifer replied, walking up to Biggs and flicking him on the nose. "You can't do anything to us!"

A second later, a blast of lightning struck Zell, surprising him. Biggs took advantage of the momentary distraction his Thunder spell had bought and shook his arm free of Zell's grasp. That arm came across in a hook, smacking Seifer in the face and stunning him. Squall tried to hold on, but Biggs brought his freed arm around and fired the gun -practically point blank -into Squall's stomach. The cadet grunted and fell back, releasing Biggs.

"Told you!" Biggs shouted, turning his gun on Zell. He was about to fire when a chain, that of Selphie's nunchaks, wrapped around his legs and yanked them out from under him. Biggs fell prone as Seifer shook his head from the hit. Zell, recovered from the magical blow, immediately moved to grab Biggs, but was distracted as a Galbadian soldier, the less than punctual Wedge, came around the central shaft and attacked Seifer from behind, forcing the captain to spin around and exchange in some quick swordplay.

"Sir!" Wedge shouted, ducking under a high slash and backing away from a low cut. "What is the enemy doing here?"

Biggs rose to his feet and his arm shot across, clubbing Zell and knocking him back. He spun back towards Selphie, who was sending her nunchacku out again. Biggs caught the nunchaku with the metal guard on his arm, blocking the hit.

"Wedge!" he yelled. "Where the hell were you? No pay for you this month!"

Wedge turned aside a thrust from Seifer, and countered, only to be blocked and counter-countered.

"Should've stayed home . . ." he moaned, ducking back from Seifer's slash, taking a glancing blow on the arm.

I then took action. I sheathed my sword and replaced my hands with my guns. I pointed them at Wedge and fired several shots at him. He managed to dodge most but a few skimmed across his armour and clothes.

Wedge dropped to the ground but lifted his gun and fired off several rounds at me. I fired back and all of Wedge's bullets were either pulverised or were deflected off course. He then had to continue dodging Seifer's attacks but it was obvious that his wounds were slowing him down.

Looking over to where Squall, Zell and Selphie were, I saw that they were handling Biggs just fine. Poor Biggs seemed to not realise that the three were hyped up on GF junctions as his face looked completely confused when he fired a burst of gunfire at Squall, making him stagger, but didn't drop him.

"How?" he protested. "That's impossib-ah!" Biggs was suddenly taken off his feet by a well-placed swipe of Selphie's nunchaku. The major rolled away, coming up with another burst of gunfire at Squall. The cadet rolled to the side, evading the burst, and then smacked his gunblade down on top of Biggs's armored arm. The blade cut into the metal but didn't slice through, so Squall quickly pulled the trigger, the explosive blast tearing apart the armor and almost blowing Biggs's arm off.

"Ahhh!" Biggs screamed, falling back and firing with his other arm.

Another Fire spell from Selphie sent Biggs down on the ground. He lay there, moaning in pain.

"Nice job!" I said to Selphie. She turned and grinned at me, flashing the victory sign.

Wedge, meanwhile, hadn't fared even as well as Biggs had. His left arm was disabled due to a high cut around the shoulder that had left it limp, and his right was bleeding. He was limping, and Seifer still pressed him hard.

Suddenly, both he and Seifer were lifted up by a gust of powerful wind, hurled aside.

"Ahhhh!" Wedge screamed, and slammed into the metal shaft at the center of the tower, swiftly hurled into unconsciousness. Seifer fared better, landing on his feet, only slightly shaken up by the blast. He spun around to face the new opponent. I did so and looked at the monstrosity before us.

It was red and purple, with huge, bat-like wings, a pair of massive, muscled arms, and no legs. Instead of the legs, it featured a massive abdomen, tipped with a stinger longer than Seifer was tall.

The monster screamed, and one of its clawed hands came in at Seifer. He ducked aside and sliced the arm as it passed.

"What the hell is this thing?" he shouted. I immediately took charge and called over to the others. "Squall, Zell! Attack with close range combat! Selphie, you're with me with long range support!" There was slight hesitation as they reconfigured their minds to me giving orders, before they nodded and carried out their assigned positions.

Squall and Zell charged into the fray with Seifer, while I reached out to the monster mentally, using Shiva as a conduct. I felt the magic inside it, as well as something else. _Two _something else's. I realised that they were GFs.

'But there weren't two inside this thing in the game?' I thought before picking one at random. The Guardian Force responded immediately, and energy erupted from the monster, crossing the distance to me.

**"Wow! It's really roomy in here,"** said the new entity inside my mind. Judging by the feel of it and it's voice, I deducted that it was female, but wasn't Siren.

'Why does every GF think my mind is roomy? It makes me think that there's nothing in there,' I said rather annoyed.

**"What? What's going on?" **continued the female voice inside my head. On the side note, I noticed that the voice was very gentle and rich. If I had to give a description to it, her voice sounded like an angel's voice. Corny, I know.

'Sorry but I haven't got time to explain now. Shiva, Ifrit. Give her the lowdown of the situation,' I instructed before calling over to Selphie.

"There's a GF inside it. You grab it!" I said. She nodded before concentrating. After a couple of seconds the GF crossed the distance to Selphie's mind. I saw her mouth the word 'Siren'.

Squall and Zell closed in on the monster as Seifer ducked aside from another swing. The monster noticed the energies being stolen and faced us. Its mouth opened, and then a wave of wind swept across the two charging cadets, hurling them back.

"Ow," Zell muttered, hopping to his feet in time to see Seifer circling around towards them. The captain suddenly charged the monster, ducking under a stabbing stinger and getting in a trio of cuts on the monster. A clubbing backhand hit the captain as he ran out behind the monster, hurling him away and sending him sprawling on the ground, not moving.

"Weapons won't work!" Squall shouted. "We can't get close enough, it's got a range advantage on us. We'll have to rely on magic."

"You guys stand back!" I said before calling on Shiva in my mind. She responded instantly and her icicle spiked out of the platform. She shattered the ice around her before powering up her Diamond Dust attack. She launched the attack and large icicles struck up and encased the monster's stinger and most of its lower body. Shiva turned to me and summoned a large crystal ball, similar to the one Ifrit gave to me, only this one was charged with ice blue energy. She tossed to me and I caught it while smiling. I focused on it and felt the connection with Shiva strengthen considerably, even more so than with Ifrit.

Shiva then disappeared and the ice shattered, taking the stinger and parts of the monster's body with it. The monster was definitely weakened, however it wasn't out. Seifer, now back on his feet, took advantage of this and summoned his own GF. Knowing that, as far as I knew, Seifer didn't have a GF in the game, I watched closely to see what he would summon.

Seifer's gunblade glowed white and he slammed in into the floor. The white energy seeped out of the sword and rose up to form a glowing door. The doorway was filled with dark energy, as if it was the gate to another dimension. Then out of the gate shot a large creature. As it slowed down I could see it properly.

It was a huge wolf. It was the size of a big horse. Its fur was black and silky looking. Powerful limbs supported the wolf. It gazed upon its target with purple eyes before it howled. All of a sudden the monster was surrounded with white energy. The energy propelled the monster up high. Then the wolf howled again, this time creating several swords made out of pulsing black energy. The swords surrounded the creature and then all struck at once. Each sword rammed itself straight through the monster. The sight reminded of a move in Final Fantasy XII. Then the swords dissolved and the wolf disappeared. The monster crashed to the floor but was still alive.

'Who was that Seifer just summoned?' I asked Ifrit as Shiva was talking to the newcomer.

**"That was Fenrir, guardian force of darkness. He controls dark energy, like ****Diablos, only Diablos's attacks maim, not kill,"** explained Ifrit.

'I see.'

My guns then began to glow and I smirked before I focused and channelled the new energy for my Limit Break for my guns. I then summoned a Haste spell out of nowhere and began to flash all around the field. Each time I sped to a different position I shot the monster. 32 times I did this within several seconds before jumping high and over the monster. I pointed my guns at it and drilled another 32 bullets into its head, yelling out the name for my new limit.

"Divine 64 Bullets!"

I landed and turned to the monster, only to see it very dead. The four of us watched as the body seemed to break apart, pieces of it floating off into the air like dust in the wind. Within seconds, the monster was gone.

"Jeez! All this just to deliver one fucking message?" I asked incredulously. I turned to Selphie. "It better be good," I said.

"Squad B captian?" Selphie asked Seifer, who nodded. "S'cuse me, but I have new orders! All SeeDs and SeeD cadets are to withdraw at 1900 hours. Assemble at the shore."

"Withdraw?" Seifer protested. "There are still enemies around!"

"I doubt it. We kicked some serious ass around here and it's probable that the rest of the force did the same," I said, seeing that Squall nodded, agreeing with my hypothesis.

"Sorry," Selphie replied to Seifer. "But I'm just a messenger."

"The order to withdraw takes priority," Squall reminded Seifer. "I don't want to miss the vessel." Seifer seemed about to complain, but then reluctantly agreed.

"1900 . . . " Seifer muttered, checking his watch. "It's 1830 now. We've only got thirty minutes!" He turned back to his squad. "Better run!" Then, he hit the button for the platform, and hopped on. Before we could stop him, Seifer was out of sight.

"Hey!" Selphie called after him, sounding upset. "Wait for us!"

"Who does he think he is?" Zell complained.

"Why don't you ask him?" Squall replied with a shrug. Still, I could see he was slightly pissed.

"Damn it!" Zell shouted. "We're gonna have to haul ass! Is there another elevator?" A quick check revealed a second elevator platform on the other side of the shaft, and we wasted no time descending.


	8. Chapter 8: The Chase

**Chapter 8: The Chase**

"C'mon guys! Let's hustle!" I called to my teammates as we jumped off the lift when we were at a safe distance and tore through the tower's doors. We were so focused on getting back, I almost forgot what was going to happen next.

'Oh shit! That's right!' I said as I stopped and looked up toward the top of the tower, my friends stopping as well and looking up when they saw me unresponsive.

A huge, black shape was up there, walking to the edge of the platform. Then, it leaped, dropping down towards them.

"Watch out!" I yelled before back peddling quickly. And just in time. A huge, black machine dropped down right where I'd been standing, the mechanized weapon landing nimbly on its four legs. With a thunderous, mechanical piston-like stomping sound, its legs spread out, balancing the heavy weight of the machine. The weapon turned its attention towards us, as if sizing us up.

Looking at the X-ATM092 on the screen was one thing. Seeing this monstrous thing in reality was a completely different thing altogether. It was huge, twice my height, and as wide as it was tall. It had a long, rectangular body, supported on four large, cylindrical legs, spread out like the legs of a spider, with sharp, clawed tips. It was painted matte black, excepting bluish designs on its legs, red markings across its body, and the steel-gray grating on the front of the machine. Behind this grating, something glowed a dark red, a sensor perhaps. Whatever it was, it was looking directly at us. A quartet of turbines in the back powered the machine, and a pair of black and gray metallic pinchers, like those of a scorpion, waved around like that of a real scorpion just in front of the gray grating of its "head." Aside from the designation "X-ATM092." Written on the side in blocky, Galbadian script, beneath it in hand painted, white paint were the words "Black Widow."

The machine, apparently finished with its analysis of us, stepped forward, its metal legs gouging chunks out of the concrete bricks below them. "Oh boy!" I said as I stepped back a few paces before looking at my friends. "Zell, can you distract it?" He nodded and gave be the thumbs up. "You got it!" He then charged forward and hopped over the pincers to land a powerful kick into the machine's front end. The sheer power behind the kick caused the machine to stumble back, almost through the Comms Tower's doors.

As Zell served his role well I turned to the other two. "Selphie, do you have any Thundera stored?" I asked. She nodded. "Yeah! A bunch."

"Great! Squall, you summon Quezi while Selphie and I cover you with magic," I said.

Squall nodded before he began to concentrate.

"Ok! Here we go!" I said before Selphie and I began to fire off bolt after strong bolt of Thundera magic while Zell hammered away on the things 'face'. However after the 4th consecutive Thundera bolt the machine toppled forward, Selphie's spell finishing the device. It dropped down into the ground and was still, and my fellow cadets breathed a sigh of relief. Not me though. I knew that it would take more than that to put this machine down for good.

My knowledge of the world of Final Fantasy 8 was quite extensive so I knew a lot of things that other players didn't. However it seemed that Sora had inputted extensive information about all things Galbadian, seeing as I came from there in my make up history. For example; I knew Galbadian computer technicians and programmers were quite skilled, and their programming capabilities were shown in their ability to program the army's military robot forces. They had even developed an advanced artificial intelligence program, which was still being experimented on. That AI program was capable of learning from its mistakes and adjusting for them, as well as developing new methods and solutions to a problem. Such an AI had yet to have been tested in the field, so the Galbadian military command had decided to put it into use on a relatively minor military conflict, to determine its effectiveness. That conflict happened to be the one in Dollet, and the AI was included in the latest model of the Galbadian "X-ATM" series, X-ATM092, along with advanced targeting programming, new weaponry, and highly advanced redundant systems with heavy armour. The engineers were most likely very proud of their new weapon, which they promised it would dominate the future world battlefield.

"Time to go!" I said before turning around and pelting up the path, my classmates close behind me.

After about a minute we had almost managed to work our way back up the trail to the spot where we had spied on the Galbadians earlier, and still had about twenty-five minutes left. My ears caught the sound of a familiar metallic stomping and I looked behind me to curse out loud. I knew that the AI inside that thing would repair the damage, but not this quickly.

"Fuck! I thought we had more time!" I said, making the others turn to me before they saw the Galbadian machine, hot on our heels, seemingly undamaged by the brutal barrage it had suffered earlier. "The hell?" Zell protested. "I thought we already busted that thing up?"

"Not a chance! That thing has an advanced repair system controlled by an experimental AI program! We're just going to have to outrun it!" I said, speeding up and not giving the others enough time to question how I knew this.

"Yeah! Let's go!" said Squall. The other two cadets nodded, and we hurried up the path, scrambling even faster than we had been before. We quickly left the machine in our dust, judging by how its metallic stomps faded into the distance.

We soon passed the cliff top where Seifer had observed the Galbadians and Selphie had joined us, and continued down the path. I led the group, while Squall and Zell were in the middle. Selphie was right behind them, only trailing by a few feet.

Then, a black multi-ton mass of metal, legs, and destruction leaped straight up the cliff face and missed Selphie by inches, its legs swooping down towards her head and almost scoring a hit. She cried out in surprise and ducked, rolling away as the machine landed nimbly on the rocks above the cliff top. It spun around immediately and charged again, aiming deliberately for Selphie once more.

"Shit! It's decided that Selphie is the most vulnerable and dangerous!" I said, a little put out that the AI thought that Selphie was more deadly than me. However now was not the time to be jealous.

We met it, the gunblade-wielding cadet hurling a Thundara at the machine while the martial artist and I dished out a mighty flying kick and several bullets into its grille. The spider machine was knocked off-balance for a second, long enough to allow Selphie to recover and add her own Thundara spell to the attack while Squall joined Zell in close-quarters combat and I hung back to guard Selphie and occasionally summon a bolt of Thundara.

X-ATM092 took several damaging blows to its front before stepping back and turning to the left, almost defensively. Squall and Zell followed up, trying to disable the machine quickly. But they realised almost too late that the bot had done a feint move as the machine's forward right leg shot out in a sweeping slash. Zell backflipped out of its way, but Squall took the clawed end across the chest and was knocked off his feet. The machine came right in behind its own attack, stomping over to the downed cadet and attacking him with a pair of raised pinchers, which dove down at Squall's prone form.

In a flash I had removed Ragnarok and had blocked the machine's advance on Squall. "Move Squall!" I yelled at him as he looked at me in shock. He quickly regained his senses and scrambled out of the way as Selphie cast a Cure spell on him.

Then Zell jumped over my head and pounded away with superhuman strength into the weapon's front grille. A third Thundara struck the machine, which still stubbornly stood. It stomped forward, forcing Zell back. The machine shifted its angle slightly, bringing it in line with Selphie once more.

A fourth powerful Thundara blasted the machine's backside, hitting its turbines precisely, courtesy of Squall, who was now located behind the weapon. The electrical blast overloaded and destroyed several of the turbines, and the weapon stumbled, losing power to critical systems. Its legs suddenly stopped moving, but forward momentum still carried it towards Selphie. She dove out of the way, barely getting clear as the huge weapon hurtled past.

And then it fell right over the edge of the cliff, tumbling down to smash into the concrete bricks below. It didn't move.

"Ouch," I said as I looked over the edge. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Squall.

"Thanks," he said simply.

"No problems!" I said.

"So is there any reason why it seemed to target me?" asked Selphie as we began to run down the path.

"As I hail from Galbadia I know quite a lot of their many dirty little secrets. One of them was a experimental AI, or artificial intelligence. It's probably been uploaded into that thing for field testing. I think that it's been programmed to learn from its mistakes and adjust to them, as well as develop new strategies to a problem. The problem being us," I explained as we stomped down the path.

"So is it dead?" asked Zell. At that point a familiar metallic stomping assaulted our ears. "Aw, hell no!" Zell denied, looking over his shoulder. The weapon was once more on its feet, and had leaped back up to the spot where it had ambushed us minutes ago. Still, that was a fairly great distance, and the machine only looked like a distant and ominous black shape up there.

"Let's try to put some distance between us and it," I said as we stepped on the gas and charged forward.

I looked behind me. The spider machine still stood up there, looking ominous yet impotent. I could still see the faint red glow of its sensors, even at this distance.

'Creepy,' I noted in my head.

**"Indeed,"** said the new GF.

'Ah, hello there. I assume that Shiva and Ifrit have explained the situation to you?' I asked.

**"Yes,"** she replied. **"My name is Amaterasu. I'm the GF for Light. I use light to attack, blind, confuse or just to light up the area. Undead don't fare well against me."**

'I see. What form do you take?'

**"A white nine tailed fox."**

'Wow!' I said.

While I was having this conversation I had deliberately slowed down for the other three teenagers to pass me. As they passed me they looked at me questioningly.

"Don't worry. I'll guard you rear's and scout behind to make sure there's no sneak attacks." They nodded before continuing on. As we got to the bottom of the stairs I looked back.

It was no longer at the top. Instead, the multi-ton killing machine came right down the side of the mountain, leaping the entire distance to slam down onto the steps no more than ten feet behind me. But I had anticipated this and had jumped backwards before it came in contact with the ground. I landed several meters away and held Ragnarok in a guard stance.

It didn't advance. Instead the machine was spreading its legs out wide, as if bracing itself. Both its pinchers folded up around its head, and suddenly, steam poured out from its turbine engines, rising up over the machine's back. A glowing ball of energy began forming directly underneath the machine's "face."

"Oh SHIT!" I yelled loudly before a yellow beam shot out from that ball, striking the ground right in front of me.

Then I was airborne, hurled up and back by the force of the explosion as the machine's attack blew the ground at my feet apart like an artillery shell. I came down almost right on top of Zell, who, along with Squall and Selphie, had spun around to face the suddenly very real danger that the machine posed once more.

Selphie wasted no time launching another Thundara the machine's way. The electrical blast staggered the machine as it had before, but didn't come close to stopping it. In response, the weapon set its feet once more, and a second ball of energy formed.

Wasting no time I thrust Ragnarok into the ground and pulled out Oblivion. An accurate shot to the middle of the ball of energy destabilized it. The energy literally blew up in its face. A large column of smoke was thrown up and when it cleared, the X-ATM092 was on its side once again, but this time it looked like it was dead. The head was horribly disfigured and melted. In some places the underneath was showing; electricity sparking from those areas.

I spun the black gun in my hand and holstered the weapon. "Let's go!" I said and we continued forward. We arrived at the bridge and sped over it to move into the city. Dollet's streets were as empty now as they had been before, and Squall, Zell, Selphie and I hurried through them, knowing we didn't have much time to get to the beach. The tall buildings loomed up overhead like the rock walls of the mountain trails had minutes ago.

"Seven minutes!" Squall warned us as we saw the Central Square ahead.

Then, the impossible happened.

Thunderous metallic clanging sounded down the street behind us.

As one, we spun around, and saw X-ATM092 charging down the street, still bent on its singular purpose.

"Motherfucker!" I swore loudly.

"That . . . No way!" Zell shouted. "That's impossible! It's supposed to be dead!"

"Go!" I shouted, spinning back towards the Central square. "Go! Go!" We took off and charged down the street, the machine hot on our heels. I looked back over my shoulder to see the machine closing in even faster to us.

As we entered the Central Square, Squall spun around next to the fountain and focused, closing his eyes tightly. It looked like he was focusing for a GF attack.

"Squall!" Selphie shouted, noticing he'd stopped.

"What the hell are you doing?" Zell also shouted.

"Get out of here," Squall responded quietly, barely audible over the sound of the metallic clanging as X-ATM092 neared the Square. "I'll hold it."

"But-!" Selphie began, but Zell only nodded and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"We gotta move!" he replied, and ran down the street towards the beach. "We don't wanna be here when that thing arrives!" Selphie hesitated, then turned and ran as well.

I walked across to stand beside Squall. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked quietly, still focusing.

"Sorry but as the second in charge since the captain abandoned us, I'm not leaving behind my subordinate," I said calmly. I drew my sword, ready to defend Squall if needed. Moments later, X-ATM092 stomped into the Central Square. It took a step towards us, but then paused, seeming to realise Squall was summoning a GF. Its legs spread outward, and the turbines pumped once more, and the DH-22 Ray Bomb powered up.

Then Squall opened his eyes, his summoning complete.

The skies above Dollet, or rather, just above the Square, suddenly sported ominous, spiralling storm clouds. Rain began to pour down upon the Central Square, drenching my hair to my head. Then, from the centre of the spiralling clouds, a single mighty lightning bolt struck the ground. But, instead of scoring the concrete pavement, from the impact point rose a spinning yellow entity.

It took on the form of a mighty yellow bird as it continued spinning, rising up and growing bigger, crackling blue electricity running along its length as if demanding to be released. Within an instant, the creature had fully manifested, a great yellow bird with black markings across its body. Except this bird had no feathers, or beak, or even face. Its neck and head resembled that of a serpent's, but without eyes or mouth. In fact, the whole body was smooth and yellow, with many white lights playing across its surface as it hovered in the air for an instant.

Quezacotl looked down on its foe, and then the lightning Guardian Force's head snapped forward, seeming to spew lightning from where the mouth would have been on a snake. The lightning swiftly surrounded X- ATM092, then began to form a dome of electrical energy around the weapon, high above the ground. From the apex of this dome, a single brilliant bolt of energy lanced down, striking the weapon dead centre and sending tremendous amounts of electricity throughout the machine. Components exploded, the turbines blew apart, and within an instant, X-ATM092 was down once more, this time at Quezacotl's hands.

Its duty done, the Guardian Force faded away. Squall began to retreat but I stayed my ground. He turned to see my lack of movement.

"Josh! We need to go!" he said.

I turned to him to see his worried face. It looked like he had an inkling that the X-ATM092 wasn't out and he didn't want to stick around.

"Sorry, but I need to stay here to strike it out of commission," I said.

"But why? We can escape onto the boat before it gets to us," Squall tried to reason.

"And if we do? Then the X-ATM092 will just turn on anyone left inside the city. It's certainly smart enough to play dead until the city folk return. And then it'll attack. I'm going to stay here to make sure that doesn't happen. Plus you three are tired and spent. You three would be easy targets. There's a saying. 'Those who break the rules are scum. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum.' I consider you three my comrades and I will protect my precious people!" I then turned back to the X-ATM092 and summoned my wings into view. I heard Squall gasp at the sight. "Go Squall. There's no way I'm dying yet. I'll meet you at Balamb... I promise."

Squall paused before nodding and running towards the beach.

I then walked up to the already rising X-ATM092 and, using focused Ki energy in the sword, sliced off one of its legs, preventing it from getting up. "Your purpose ends here and now."

"Shiva. I'd like to summon you in your real form," I asked, not really caring that I was speaking out loud.

**"Glad to do so!"** she said lively before a large amount of power began to build up inside me. The power reached a peak before it left me. Small tendrils of icy energy spiralled around me for a moment before 5 huge ice crystals were summoned out of no-where and they all smashed into the ground at one point, creating a sort of flower. Then a glowing, transparent female form with large tentacle like appendages flowing from her head drifted down from the heavens and seemed to meld into the ice. She then changed into a blue skinned woman with 14 very thick bundles of blue hair bounded with gold material in a couple of places per bundle. In some cases there was a gold ring attached to the end of some of these hair bundles. In addition there was a long, thin plat that extended almost all the way down to her feet. The end had a gold ring with the bottom half fitted with pale blue feathers. She was clad in a very skimpy outfit that had me blushing at the sight of her generous curves. One breast was covered with clothing whereas the other was covered with a sheet of ice. Attached to the right side of her hip was a bright indigo coloured piece of clothing looking like half a skirt. It took me a couple of seconds of ogling her to realise that I was looking at the Final Fantasy X form of Shiva.

She looked at me slyly before walking up to me in a very sensual way; her hips swaying, her perky E-cup breasts bouncing slightly with each step and her long, toned and sexy legs stepping elegantly. She walked right up to me and I realised that she was a couple of feet taller than me. My head was in line with her very large breasts. She then bent over to look into my eyes at eye level. I looked back and was transfixed.

Her eyes were a very exotic mix of amethyst purple and sapphire blue. I thought my heart skipped a few beats in a row from staring into her beautiful eyes. She then smiled and tapped me on the nose. I expected her touch to flash freeze me into a meat popsicle but her touch was unexpectedly warm. She then spoke.

**"What say I rid Dollet of this menace before we go home?"** she asked, her voice rich, melodious and calming.

"...yeah," I said dreamily, still locked in place from her beauty. I was then shocked out of my hormone misted state when X-ATM092 tried to get up and failed, creating a loud clang.

"Well, time to see what you got!" I said as Shiva prepared her move.

* * *

-] Third POV [-

Currently Squall, Selphie, Zell, Seifer, Quistis and Zu were crowded round the screen showing the city of Dollet as their vessel moved into deeper waters.

"I know what I saw and he grew black wings," said Squall stubbornly.

"Uh, you sure you weren't hallucinating from all the adrenaline in your veins?" asked Zell worriedly.

"No I didn't. I..." he would of continued but a bright light suddenly filled the screen. Worried, Squall, Zell, Selphie and Quistis climbed up the ladder to the top gun and squeezed onto the small platform. They looked at the direction of Dollet and gasped.

A bright pillar of ice blue energy had shot up from Dollet and was now suspended there. Quistis took a pair of small binoculars and looked at the light with them. It looked like a massive amount of energy was rising into space. Then the energy died down and what was left was a ten mile high thin spike of glittering ice. Squall took out his own pair and checked near the top.

Completely frozen and impaled was the X-ATM092, about 9/10ths up. From his view the ice was creeping into the X-ATM092's cracks and gaps in the armour, freezing it completely. The X-ATM092 was still trying to escape, still trying to get to its targets. But it was rapidly slowing down as the ice continued to seep into its electronics and power cells. Eventually it stopped completely, this time really dead. However to make sure it really was the spike of ice shattered into billions and billions of pieces, taking the X-ATM092 with it, completely shredding its insides.

"What was that?" asked Zell as the other two were silent in awe.

"I think that was a sample of the true power a GF is capable of," said Squall.

* * *

AN: Another chapter and the close of the Dollet mission. Reviews please. Let me know what you think.

Update 31/12/2011: A few small changes, mainly the size of Shiva's breasts and her height.


	9. Chapter 9: New SeeD and New Respect

**Chapter 9: New SeeD and New Respect**

The sea was nice as the sunlight began to colour the sky red, orange and yellow. I ran my hand across the water for a moment, relishing the feel before pulling up and soaring on my black wings.

"Ahhh, this is nice!" I said out loud.

**"You seem to be having fun,"** said Shiva.

"Of course! I love flying. And this is the first time I've been able to experience it like this!" I yelled through the rush of wind as I climbed up further into the sky until I reached the clouds. The view was absolutely magnificent. It looked like the scene in DragonBall Z: Burst Limit where you fight in the sky of a glowing sunset in the Island stage. It looked just like that.

For about half an hour I flew up there until I looked down and saw the town of Balamb. I then went into a steep dive, laughing and whooping as the air sped past me; plummeting back to the ground. At the last moment I pulled up and settled softly on the ground outside the town. I deactivated my wings and was about to walk into town...

**"Before you go in I'd like to give you access to my second form too,"** said Amaterasu.

"Really?" I asked.

**"Yes. I've talked it out with Shiva and Ifrit and agree that you should have this privilege. That and I really want to sing with you guys tonight."**

"Well thanks! I've got songs that were meant for you to sing them just waiting for you to do so," I said happily, grinning in anticipation for tonight.

So I went through the motions and summoned her in front of me. I began to glow with white light before the glow broke off me in large orbs of white light. They swirled and flowed around me before collecting in front of me and condensing into the form of a completely white elegant vixen with one tail. I summarised that her true form had nine tails. She smiled at me... at least it looked like she did, it was hard to tell. She then created the same spherical materia-like jewel and it floated into my outstretched hands. She dissolved into small white lights with long tails at the ends. It looked like a white version of when Kadaj dissolved into Lifestream energy in FFVII: Advent Children.

I then focused on the jewel in my hand and as it seeped into me, I felt the connection between myself and Amaterasu strengthen to the level Ifrit's jewel had. I still wondered why Shiva's was much stronger but decided not to dwell on that. Instead I walked into town, checked out the stores, bought a few supplies plus a digital camera for those Kodiak moments and then settled down on a bench at the harbour to wait for the vessel that shipped us to Dollet.

I didn't have to wait that long as after ten or so minutes I saw the vessel appear on the horizon. It only took another ten minutes before the Salamander was docked at the harbour. I stood up and walked over to the front entrance. The door opened up and the first person to emerge was Seifer. He looked at me and stood stock still, his eyes bulging out of his sockets. I quickly took out my camera and snapped a shot of his face. "You've been framed," I said under my breath.

"How in the hell did you arrive here before us?" he asked.

I grinned before chanting out in a childish voice, "Not telling ya!" He recoiled slightly before grunting and walking away, meeting up with Fujin and Raijin at the car. Next to come out was Squall but his reaction was much more subdued then I thought. I guess he accepted my wings and the fact that I could fly very fast with them.

"Hey Squall," I greeted warmly, which he returned with a simple nod. "How was your flight?" he asked.

"Very nice," I commented as if I was talking about the weather. Squall moved off the gangplank to make way for Zell, Selphie, Quistis and Xu to clamber out. Zell took one look at me and his mouth fell open completely. Same for Quistis, Selphie and Xu. I quickly snapped the shot before tucking the camera into one of my numerous pockets.

"WHAT THE...? HOW THE...? ...HUH?" was Zell's verbal reaction. Selphie, Quistis and Xu were just speechless.

"Nice to see you too Zell," I said before he rushed over to me and enveloped me in a strong hug. "I thought you were..." he sobbed with emotion.

"Hey man, don't worry bout me. As you can see, I'm fine," I assured the blond cadet as he released me.

"But how did you get here? And before us?" he asked.

"I'll show you later," I said before we heard a roaring sound of an engine behind us. We turned to see the Garden car rumble out of the parking lot and down the street.

"Ah shit! There goes Mr. Ego!" Zell swore as we watched our ride disappear round the corner.

"We can just walk, and I'll show you my secret on the way as there's too many people round here," I said. I then began to make my way out of the harbour area with Zell, Squall and Selphie behind me. I looked around to see Quistis and Xu talking to each other.

"Oi! Instructor! Aren't you joining us?" I called over to her. She looked up and shook her head. "No, I have some business to finish up with Xu here. I'll see you later," she said before turning back to Xu.

"Well then, why don't we get out of here," I suggested.

"Oh wait! Can I visit my Ma first? She lives here in Balamb. We can take a break and grab some of Ma's cooking?" asked Zell.

"Sure we can. Family is very important after all," I replied. "Besides, I'm in the mood for something good to eat." And with the thought of home cooked food, in my mind at least, we walked out of the harbour.

The town was a little livelier than before. Many of the SeeD and cadets that participated in the op were relaxing for the afternoon in Balamb. As we passed the Balamb Hotel, I spotted a few SeeD's playing Triple Triad on one of the few outdoor tables. They looked up from their game as we passed by them and they, strangely enough, sent respectful looks and nods in varying degrees my way. I was a little confused but returned the looks with a friendly smile before continuing on.

Zell's place was near the middle of Balamb. In the game you couldn't see anything of Balamb being more than a very small coastal village. But here the evidence that the town was bigger than what was portrayed in the game was present. Balamb was about the size of a large town. With Zell leading the way it wasn't long before we found ourselves in front of the Dincht's home.

"Ma!" Zell shouted as he stepped through the door leading down into his house. "I'm home!" Squall, Selphie and I were right behind him, and were struck by the wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen. My mouth began to water slightly. "Mmmm, that smells good," I said before getting a good look around.

The Dincht household was like many of Balamb's residential buildings, which had been built like apartments as one long, low line of dwellings running down the length of the street. Essentially, each Balamb house was part of the same structure, just divided off into separate homes for separate families. The actual floor of the homes was a little below the level of the streets outside, almost giving the one the impression of descending into a burrow when one went down the steps leading inside. Despite being slightly underground, the Balamb houses were far from dark, being well-lit by high windows, and featuring second story bedrooms.

The room we were in was tidy and clean, as expected when a woman ran the place. I could see various knick-knacks and a few electronics scattered around the mid-sized room, and a nice throw rug covered the floor. The whole room was of a dark cream sandstone colour, that of the stone it was made out of, but the colour actually gave the room a cozy effect. There were several archways leading out of the room, one to a living room directly across from the entrance, a second leading to a set of stairs that went up to the bedrooms, and a third that Zell was disappearing through, and where the aromas emerged from, doubtless the kitchen where Ma Dincht was cooking.

"Nice place!" I said softly, but expressively.

"Yeah, sure is!" replied Selphie in the same tone.

Squall just nodded, but had a faint smile on his face.

"Zell!" a heavyset woman said happily in the kitchen as Zell pulled her into a hug. "What a surprise!" She glanced over her son's shoulder to see us enter the kitchen, being drawn in by the wonderful smell of whatever was being prepared on the stove. "Are these your friends?"

"Yeah!" nodded Zell as he pointed at each of us in turn. "This is Squall Leonheart. He's a gunblade specialist. He's a little moody but a nice enough guy." I snorted softly as Squall shot me a 'Shut up' look.

"Then there's Selphie Timitt. We just met up this afternoon. She's a nice girl but a little hyperactive sometimes." I grinned as Selphie scratched the tip of her nose in an embarrassed way.

"And then there's Josh Kitsune. He's awesome! He wields two handguns and an absolutely giant sword. He's really kind and a great guy to hang around!"

"Why thank you Zell," I said as I stepped up and grappled his head into a friendly headlock. "Your son's a good kid Ms. Dincht," I said.

"I'm pleased that he has such wonderful friends to rely on," she said. "So, you had free time today?" she asked as she focused her attention on the cooking again.

"Nah, outdoor class," Zell replied as I released his head. "Hopefully the last one!"

"Oh the exam!" Mama Dincht exclaimed. "I heard about it! Tell me, how did you all do...?"

* * *

We stayed at the Dincht house for about an hour as Zell, Selphie and I recounted our parts in the battle over some of Mama Dincht's cooking. Squall stayed silent, but it looked like he also enjoyed some of the food.

As Selphie was rounding up her side of the story, I looked at my watch. "Hey guys, we need to be getting back soon. I need to set up for tonight," I said.

"What do you mean?" asked both Zell and Selphie together.

"Oh that's right. I never told you. I'm the band for tonight's inauguration party," I said.

"Wow, really? That's awesome!" exclaimed Zell.

"Totally!" added Selphie.

"Yeah, I've already got a perfect opening song ready. I heard in the past that the previous bands only played one song over and over. So tonight I'm going to spice it up with a 20 song tracklist," I explained.

"Man! Now I really want to go. The SeeD's that attend the party in the past all complained about the limited music choice each year, but the Faculty say that it's tradition for that song to play," Zell finished up.

"We better get going then. Thanks for the meal Ms. Dincht," I thanked politely.

"It's at least an hour's walk back," Squall said, standing up from his chair. "We'll need to leave soon if we want to make it back by sundown."

"You're walking?" Ma Dincht said in surprise. "I thought you SeeDs came in your vehicles."

"Nah, we did," Zell clarified as the cadets got up. "But our captain had a problem with sharing."

"Oh, Seifer, right?" Ma Dincht replied, shaking her head knowingly. Zell shrugged and nodded. Seifer wasn't just a well-known troublemaker in Garden, after all. "Well, you can expect that out of him. You kids take care, alright?"

"Hey, no problem, Ma!" Zell said with a grin.

"Thanks for the meal Ms. Dincht," I thanked politely.

"Yeah!" Selphie agreed. "It was great!"

We began to move for the exit but Zell pulled on my long coat. "Josh, wait a sec," Zell said quickly. He turned and walked over to the staircase leading up towards the second floor. "I need to get something outta my room real quick. I'll be out in a moment." With that, the martial artist bounded up the steps.

It wasn't long before he reappeared down the stairs. "Ok! I'm good to go!"

* * *

We had trudged across the road leading to Balamb Garden for about half an hour. Then we did a right angle and walked for ten minutes off the road and into the plains. I wanted to make sure that no-one saw what I was just about to unveil to Squall, Zell and Selphie. I needed to trust them, as we would be working together on the Timber mission.

"Ok," I said as I stopped and turned to the three behind me. "The things that I'm going to show and tell you need to be kept a secret until I'm ready to announce them. I need your word that you won't tell anyone unless I've cleared it with you. Got it?"

"As long as the information doesn't endanger us, the Garden or our mission, very well," said Squall, with Zell and Selphie nodding along with his reasoning.

"Fair enough," I said before I summoned my wings into view. Squall looked slightly in awe at them as he had seen them before, but Zell and Selphie were open mouthed and eye bugged at the sight.

"These are my wings. They allow me to fly at fast speeds and be incredibly agile in the air. And by using an energy called Ki energy, I can harden the wings until they're as hard as diamond," I explained before I saw that Zell wanted to ask me something. "What is it Zell?" I asked.

"C...can I touch 'em?" he asked with Selphie nodding along. I sweatdropped before nodding with a small smile. They immediately shot over to me and began to feel them like little kids. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Squall looking at the wings, his hands twitching slightly. 'I guess he's restraining himself from having a touch himself. I guess I'm getting through that wall he's built up around himself since Ellone was taken from the orphanage.'

"Ok, that's enough you two," I said, dismissing the wings.

"Ohhh!" whined Selphie, looking incredibly cute as she did so. Not for the first time I understood Irvine falling for her.

"Next is a technique where I can make multiple, physical copies of myself. Observe," I said before concentrating. Two seconds later, there were ten Kage Bunshins standing next to me.

"Hi ya!" they all chorused.

"H-hello..." Zell and Selphie said weakly, their eyes back to being bulging. Squall looked somewhat impressed but I knew that this was a restrained reaction. I then dismissed the clones and smiled. "That's all for today kiddies," I said before turning back to the road. "I have more special abilities but I'll tell you them some other time. No need to say too much too soon."

* * *

We reached the gates of Balamb Garden as the sun was setting. By now we were slightly tired from the day's activities and I was glad to be back. Judging from the other's expressions, they were too. Zell let lose a huge yawn as we arrived.

"Finally made it back," he remarked, stretching.

"Seriously," replied Selphie as she dusted the grime off her boot.

"Well, I guess we'll just wait for the test results," Zell replied. . "Well, till then," he added, walking away. "See you later Josh, Squall!" Selphie followed suit, and headed off deeper into Garden.

"See ya!" she called cheerfully to us as she ran off.

Squall and I looked at each other.

"I guess we'll meet up wherever they announce the results. I've got some preparing to do for tonight," I said.

"Yeah, see you then," he said before simply walking away.

'Well, at least I'm getting through to him. Now guys? I'd like you to all come out in your human forms, if that's alright?' I asked.

**"Ok," **said Ifrit.

**"You got it!" **replied Shiva.

**"Very well," **announced the high class like voice that belonged to the newcomer, Amaterasu.

After a moment, three figures appeared in front of me. The first one was quite muscular, clearly male. He was about as buff as Barret from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. He had mid-length fiery orange hair with two thick black locks that curved over the back of his head, like his horns in his other two forms. His eyes were golden. His skin was a dark brown. He was clothed in a tight black singlet, black loose pants and heavy boots. Around his neck he wore a heavy silver necklace. He grinned at me, showing elongated fangs that poked slightly out of his mouth when it was closed.

The second, female, was quite beautiful. She had long, straight white hair that reached down to her knees and deep, blue eyes. White, smooth skin only enhanced her angelic image. She wore a light cream summer dress that ended at her knees. She smiled at me and waved softly.

But the third figure, also female, was the one that took my breath away. She was taller than the other two; taller than me even. Long waist length, wavy hair in the same blue shade as her true form framed her face, the fringe parted in the middle and curled up and over her forehead. Her eyes were the same vibrant mix of amethyst purple and azure blue from before, and just like before, tugged at my heart. The rest of her was just as beautiful. White porcelain skin covered her, large breasts but not overly large, long and nicely shaped legs, elegant arms and hands and a very nice ass. She wore a black and blue, high-collared halter top, two purple, intersecting belts over her chest, white bell-sleeves and tan, fingerless gloves. Black stockings on her legs which reached to about halfway up her thighs, leaving a small area of bare skin on her upper thighs with a pair of navy blue skin tight shorts reminiscent of what Rinoa wears, but shorter. She also wore two strips of blue cloth that draped over either side of her hips, along with a smaller, white strip of cloth tied around her waist, draped in the same manner. Basically the outfit looked very similar to what Aqua wore in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. Just missing the armor piece on her arm and the armor shoes, which were replaced by sandals reminiscent of what Tsunade wears in Naruto.

'Bow chika bow wow!' was the only thought in my head now.

"Wow! So that's what you guys look like in your human forms. You guys look great!" I said.

"Thanks Josh," replied Shiva.

"Great to be outside!" said Ifrit as he stretched his arms around in a circle and cracked his neck.

"Indeed," added Amaterasu, clasping her hands behind her back and smiling serenely.

"Well, shall we go and get ready for tonight?" I suggested. A chorus of agreements from my friends greeted my ears. We then moved over to the gates and made our way to my room.

* * *

As soon as we arrived inside the complex we headed straight to my bedroom. My new companions received a few looks from the cadets that were still wandering the corridors. Shiva and Amaterasu especially. For some reason, I was a little disgruntled about the fact that Shiva was getting lustful stares from the male population. But she seemed to be completely ignoring them. That or she was completely ignorant of her own exceptionable beauty. Not likely.

The next hour was spent in my room, getting the GF's ready for tonight. Using the helmet thing, I transferred eight songs to Ifrit, six to Shiva and four to Amaterasu. I knew most of the songs by heart except one which I fixed up. The reason was because the song was in Japanese. Hopefully the audience wouldn't mind, but something told me that it didn't matter.

As I was finishing up the announcement came through on the PA system that the new SeeD's had been selected and for all cadets who participated in the opp to head up to the Second Level. I closed my laptop and looked at my friends. They nodded before they disappeared back into my mind. I then made my way out of the dorms and up to the second level.

When I arrived up there I found an assembled group of students who had participated in the exam, either standing around looking anxious or bored, or talking among themselves.

"Sup?" Zell greeted as I arrived. The martial artist was pacing anxiously. I grinned at him, setting him at ease slightly. "Don't worry. You're getting in for sure," I said confidently.

Zell looked at me. "How can you be so sure?" he asked.

"Because I'm just that good. I'll even predict who else is getting passed. Myself, Squall, Selphie and a guy called Nida."

"Yeah, Nida and Selphie already went up," Zell told me. I heard footsteps behind me and I turned to see Squall entering the hallway junction.

"Yo Squall," I greeted. He nodded my way before coming over to join us.

"What are they doing?" Squall asked in relation to the results. Zell was the one who answered.

"Hell if I know," the martial artist replied. "The faculty said they're gonna announce the grades one by one. Selphie already went, and so did Nida from Squad D. Wonder what the hell's takin' 'em so long."

"Maybe they want to raise suspense. Ya know, screw with our minds a little?" I asked. Squall shrugged while Zell went back to pacing.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Fujin and Raijin off to the side. Raijin was looking between us and his sister, who was looking murderously at us. Raijin caught my eye and walked over to us. "Heh," he said quietly to us. "Fujin was sayin' that it'd be all you guys fault if Seifer didn't become a SeeD." He glanced back over to his sister, who still glared at us. "Man, she can be pretty scary, ya know!"

"I reckon, why, just by her look alone she could turn us into a pile of red jelly," I joked slightly, which earned a small smile from Squall.

We waited for a good 20 minutes before the sounds of footsteps, the steady ones of a Faculty member, approached. The robed Faculty entered the hallway, and held up a piece of paper in front of his face.

"Dincht," he announced in a monotone voice, as if ordering coffee. "Zell Dincht." The martial artist's response was immediate and likely could have been heard in Balamb.

"OOOHHH YEEEEAAAHHHHH!" Zell shouted, fists pumping as he leaped in the air.

I grinned. "Told ya!" I said, bumping fists with Zell.

"Yeah! You did! See ya!" he called over his shoulder as he ran towards the elevators. The Faculty, seeming to not even notice Zell's triumphant roar, continued.

"Leonhart," he spoke. "Squall Leonhart." I clapped my hand on his shoulder. "Well done Squall! You made it!" I said. He smiled softly and nodded at me before walking toward the lift.

"Kitsune," finished up the Faculty. "Josh Kitsune." I nodded and strode forward. "That is all," the Faculty ended. "Dismissed." I heard a chorus of groans behind me from the disappointed cadets, and I couldn't help but feel a bit bad for them. A few curses and the sound of a GF-enhanced fist pounding the wall joined the groans as I caught up to Squall and we stepped into the elevator.

* * *

Squall and I joined Zell, Selphie and Nida in front of Cid's desk. Aside from the Headmaster himself, a group of high-ranking SeeDs, including Xu and all the participating instructors, Quistis among them, and a small group of Faculty, stood by as witnesses to the ceremony.

"These are the five cadets that passed today's exam," one of the Faculty announced. Cid nodded and rose, smiling.

"First of all, congratulations," Cid began. "You honor this Garden with your induction. However, from now on, you are members of SeeD. As such, you will be dispatched all over the world for this Garden's benifit." Cid turned to the witnessing SeeDs and instructors.

"We are proud to introduce you to the newest members of SeeD, Balamb Garden's elite mercenary force," he said to them, gesturing to us. He then returned his gaze to us.

"As SeeD soldiers," he addressed us, "you are combat specialists, the best the world has to offer. But, that is only one aspect of SeeD. When the time comes . . ."

"Headmaster, it is almost time for the meeting, and NORG is waiting," the announcing Faculty broke in, stopping the Headmaster. "Please make this short." Cid sighed and nodded, and I glanced over at the Faculty out the corner of my eye. He didn't want Cid saying anything about SeeD's true purpose. As far as NORG was concerned, SeeD was a one way ticket to being rich forever. That's why Quistis would be demoted back to being a SeeD from being an instructor. Quistis was a brilliant instructor, and her methods of teaching were spot on, but NORG wanted all the cadets to be extremely disciplined so they wouldn't step out of line and start doing things other than their job. I heard through rumours that the Garden Master was very against the idea of the Garden Festival.

"SeeD is a valuable asset to Garden," the Faculty said. "Its reputation is soley dependant on each of you. Handle your missions with care," he ended, turning back to Cid. "Is that what you wanted to say, Headmaster?" Cid sent a vexed glare at the Faculty, indicating that it obviously wasn't what he'd been intending to say, but the Headmaster said nothing as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black case. The Faculty noticed the movement and nodded.

"Here is your rank report," he stated as Cid worked his way down the line of cadets, starting from the far left and moving right. I was on the far right end, next to Squall.

Selphie was first. Cid approached her and opened the case, taking out a Garden insignia with a number on it, a sign of her rank. He handed it to the small cadet, and smiled.

"I'm looking forward to the Garden Festival," he told her quietly, to which she also smiled and nodded. Then, Cid moved further down to Nida. Cid handed the new SeeD his rank and whispered something about standing out to him. Then, the headmaster stepped up to Zell, who was practically trembling in excitement, like a kid who needed to go to the bathroom really badly.

As Cid gave Zell the rank, he whispered some advice on controlling emotions, to which Zell reddened slightly, and nodded. As Cid approached Squall, Zell stood ramrod straight.

Cid stood before Squall, and opened the case, pulling out the Garden insignia.

"Finally," Cid whispered with a grin. "A gunblade specialist." He handed Squall the insignia, which he took.

And then it was my turn. He walked up to me and smiled as he passed the insignia to me. "We're all expecting great things from you," he said mysteriously before moving on. I resisted the urge to cock my head to the side, wondering what he meant.

"This ends the SeeD inauguration. All SeeDs and faculty, dismissed." Ended the headmaster.

With that order, the older SeeDs and the Faculty filed out. The new SeeDs left with a bounce in their steps, while Zell practically bounced out the door in joy. I left with Squall.

* * *

The elevator descended, carrying Squall and I, and as the lift dropped down to the second floor, we took a second to look over our new insignia. I was surprised to see a total of 12 small bars lining the sigil. Each bar was an indication of that SeeD's rank, and I had made rank 12, the highest a new SeeD could hope to attain, and one that instantly catapulted me into the five-digit figures when it came to my monthly salary. Looking over at Squall's, I saw that he got rank nine.

"Nice job Squall," I said.

He looked over at mine and his eyes widened slightly. "Rank 12? You must've impressed them somehow," he commented.

"Yeah," I replied as we reached the second floor. "But what though?"

As we stepped off the elevator on the second floor, I spotted both Zell and Selphie, prancing around like some forest elves, in pure joy. Around them were a group of cadets and SeeDs, a welcoming committee, including those cadets who had failed to pass. The martial artist spotted me and grinned even wider.

"Yo Josh! Let's get back to class!" he shouted.

"How come?" I asked.

"What do you mean, 'how come'?" Zell demanded, acting as if it was obvious. "Don't you know what all SeeDs do when they graduate?" I was a little confused. I looked at Squall, who shrugged.

"They give a speech in front of the entire class," Zell said with a grin before turning to Squall. "Although I suppose you'd be exempt, seeing as how your speech would be three syllables long."

"Whatever," he replied, proving Zell's point, making me laugh out loud.

"And then there's the inauguration party! OOOHHHHH YEEAAHHHHH!" Zell cheered before moving off.

"I'm all ready for that. Got twenty songs in my inventory, ready to play and sing!" I said to no-one in particular.

**"Hell yeah! I'm going all out tonight!"** said Shiva excitedly.

**"For sure! Can't wait for the party!"** added Ifrit.

**"This will be a night to remember for the rest of my life,"** said Amaterasu.

'Glad to see you three so hyped up for tonight,' I said before making my way towards the classroom. However we were stopped as Seifer blocked our path.

Seifer stood with his posse, looking at Squall impassively. Zell also noticed the two rivals, and recalling what was said between Raijin and us, and combining that with those two's history, moved up beside Squall and tensed, preparing in case the taller cadet lashed out. I stayed relaxed as I knew it wouldn't happen. After a few moments, Seifer simply nodded.

"Good job," he said, without a trace of his usual sarcasm. Seifer held up his hands, clapping them together. Fujin joined him, as did Raijin, and then many other cadets and SeeDs. A few cheers sounded from the group as well.

Selphie and Zell blushed, the smaller cadet putting her hands to her cheeks in embarrassment. Zell's grim, combat-ready expression faded and was replaced by a wide smile, and Nida, who was behind us, also grinned.

Squall blinked in confusion at the congratulations he was receiving, then nodded in thanks, probably not sure how to take it.

* * *

Zell's prediction was correct as Squall was exempt from saying a speech. However, I wasn't. But I knew what I would say. As everyone looked my way after hearing Zell's speech, I opened my mouth and began to speak.

"I've only known you all for a day now, but I've already felt a connection with all of you forming. And I know that this connection will continue to grow and form into something to be proud of. I may not know most of your names, but know I will do my very best in the future missions to come. And now I will impart some wisdom in which I hope you will use to guide your actions. Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum." I then bowed. "Thank you," I finished off before stepping back. There was a moment of silence before the entire class erupted into applause and cheers. I looked around, surprised that my words had such an impact on them, but I smiled, glad that they would listen to my words in the future.

* * *

AN: Here's the newest chapter. Review please and tell me what you think.


	10. Chapter 10: PARTY TIME!

**Chapter 10: PARTY TIME!**

"Move that drum over there! Make sure the piano is facing that direction. Those four keyboards go over there! That cello goes over with the other string instruments!" I was busy directing my clones in placing up the instruments for a little later on tonight. I was already in my SeeD uniform. The tailors had done an excellent job with the uniform, and I had filled it out well. The outfit featured a black jacket with gold lining, along with a black belt and a small bandoleer running from the middle of the belt up to his left shoulder. The uniform also included black pants and boots.

Like the rest of Garden, no expense was spared when it came to art and architecture to this room: a pair of staircases, on either side of the balcony, led down to the central dance floor. Two shorter staircases led from the entrance balcony up to the second floor, which overlooked the dance floor. The dance floor itself was brightly lit, and featured a spotless, shining marble floor. On the lower floor, exquisitely designed archways and columns lined the dance floor, leading to many tables and chairs located in the darker and more sheltered area away from the open floor. Like the floor below, the upper level was also darker and more sheltered, and featured a few doors leading to balconies outside the ballroom into the open air, affording a spectacular view of the Garden grounds. Columns of blue light provided illumination on both floors.

It was only maybe half an hour till the start of the party and yet people were already filing in. A few people began to talk amongst themselves but most were watching me guide my clones around the stage area with interest. Among them was Nida.

"Yo Nida!" I called over to him. He seemed a little surprised that I knew his name but he walked over and up onto the stage.

"You know my name?" he asked.

"You graduated with me. Of course I know your name. I'm not Squall," I replied in a friendly tone. He smiled. "People always forget my name, but you're the first to remember on the first go."

I smiled back as I took in his features properly for the first time. While in the game his facial features were unrecognizable, here he looked almost identical to the poster boy on the North American box art for Final Fantasy XIV. Brown hair and sharp light silvery blue eyes with a light bronze shade of skin colour.

"So tell me Nida," I began to say before catching one of my clones going in the wrong direction. "Oi! You with the electric guitar! Not over there. Place it next to the drum kit!" The clone nodded before walking over to where I directed him.

"So as I was saying, what weaponry do you specialise in?" I asked.

"Broadsword and handgun," he replied.

"Nice! Close and ranged combat. How bout your magic?"

"Not too good on offensive. I'm best on healing and support such as elemental argumentation."

"Cool!" I said before looking over at all the instruments. It seemed that they were all there. Most of the songs I was going to be playing used instruments typical in a band but there was one or two orchestral songs that required the more traditional instruments. "Ok guys! Seems that everything is here so get started on testing and tuning the instruments!" I ordered.

"You got it boss!" they chorused before getting to work.

"How are you able to do that?" asked Nida.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Make copies of yourself?"

"Oh that!" I replied. "It's a special technique of mine. It allows me to create a physical clone of myself, but one good hit will dispel it so it's only good for distractions, info gathering or stuff like this."

"So strange," he murmured.

"It is a bit," I agreed. "Gives a whole new meaning to the words 'talking to yourself'," I said, earning a laugh from Nida.

"Well Nida, it was a pleasure to meet you. I hope you'll enjoy tonight," I said.

"Oh for sure. Especially if there isn't going to be the same two songs looping over and over again," he replied.

"Definitely not going to happen," I grinned before walking over to the set of big kettle drums and testing them out.

* * *

It was almost time for me to start playing. I was continuously scanning the room for the people I recognised. Zell, Selphie and Squall were here, as well as Cid, Xu, Quistis and Nida. Apart from them there were bout forty other SeeD and cadets milling around the place. At the moment no-one was paying any attention to me.

'Ready to come out? Got your good threads on?' I asked. There was a unanimous 'yes' from the three inside. I nodded to myself before summoning them. They quickly appeared with no-one noticing them.

Ifrit had black pants and an orange shirt on with a black sports jacket over the top. Amaterasu had a completely white dress on that was modest and adventurous at the same time.

But it was Shiva who blew me away. She had on an ice blue dress that hugged her delicious curves well. Two straps, one on each shoulder, held the dress up but the fabric was cut very low at the back, all the way down to her lower back. The front was more modest but was slightly tight so a generous amount of cleavage showed above the top of the dress. And the dress had two long slits up the side, showing a good amount of very well toned legs. Her arms were clad in long silk gloves of the same colour as her dress. Azure blue high (but supportive) heeled shoes clad her feet and to finish off the image, amethyst earrings and a large deep sapphire necklace hung about her neck.

'Bow chika bow wow!' was the only thought in my head now.

"Wow..." was all I said as I took in Shiva's appearance. She grinned slyly at me. "Like what you see?" she asked sexily.

"Like? It's fantastic! You all look great!" I covered quickly.

"Thanks!" said Ifrit. Amaterasu just smiled brilliantly at me.

"Well, let's get this show on the road," I said before taking up the microphone.

"Good evening and welcome to the SeeD Inauguration party," I began with applause from the crowd. "Tonight is going to be a little different as I'm going to be playing 20 plus songs for you! For those of you who don't know me, I am Josh Ryu Kitsune, made SeeD this afternoon. Now I'll introduce to you some special people. Now as you all know GF's help us in battle, but I have been given a very special honour of summoning them in their human form. I'd like to introduce you to Shiva, Ifrit and Amaterasu!" I announced, pointing to each of the GF's in turn.

There was a great deal of murmurings before someone decided to clap. Soon, everyone was applauding loudly for the three. They bowed and we waited for the clapping to die down.

"They will be helping me sing tonight's songs. We will now begin playing the first one which is a style of song you've never heard of before," I finished up before I nodded at my clones stationed at their respective stations. We waited for the crowd to die down before we began to play.

[Cue song Zion by Fluke from The Matrix Reloaded]

The song started out soft but grew into something that the audience had never heard before. Then the kettle drumming began in tandem with the electronic music. The song reached a crescendo before continuing on.

The people began to dance, seemingly to like this new type of song. Soon, they were all either bopping their heads to the beat or dancing on the floor. In the corner I saw Squall with his arms crossed, but his finger was tapping to the beat. Zell was enjoying the song immensely, as was Selphie. Cid, Xu and Quistis were sitting apart from the crowd, talking about something but their feet were tapping to the song.

All too soon the song ended. When the last chord was struck, a massive applause sounded out through the room.

"Thank you! Thank you!" I said as I waited for the applause to die down. "I'm glad you all enjoyed that song. The next one is something different, but I hope you all enjoy it all the same. In this song, my good friend, Ifrit will be singing along with me." I then turned to Ifrit and whispered the name of the song we were going to play before telling the clones, who reorganised themselves at the drums, electric guitar and bass, and keyboard.

"Ready?" I asked everyone. They all nodded back. "Ok. 1, 2, 3, 4,"

[Cue song In My Place (New Album Version) by Coldplay]

The song started up with a heavy drum beat before the electric guitar, bass, and keyboard kicked in.

("singing" = Josh. "singing" = Ifrit. **"Singing"** = Both.)

In my place, in my place  
Were lines that I couldn't change.  
I was lost, oh yeah  
I was lost, I was lost,  
crossed lines I shouldn't have crossed,  
I was lost, oh yeah.

**Yeah, how long must you wait for it?  
Yeah, how long must you pay for it?  
Yeah, how long must you wait for it?  
Oh for it**

I was scared, I was scared,  
Tired and underprepared  
But I'll wait for it.  
If you go, if you go,  
And leave me down here on my own  
Then I'll wait for you

**Yeah, how long must you wait for it?  
Yeah, how long must you pay for it?  
Yeah, how long must you wait for it?  
Oh for it**

Singing please, please, please  
Come back and sing to me  
**To me, me,**  
Come on and sing it out  
Now, now,  
Come on and sing it out  
**To me, me**  
**Come back and sing**

In my place, in my place  
Were lines that I couldn't change  
I was lost, oh yeah  
Oh yeah.

There was another eruption like applause for the song. As we were singing, there wasn't much dancing this time. More like swaying side to side.

"Thank you! I myself am going to take a break for a while as I am part of this party but we'll continue to play for you so enjoy tonight," I said which was met with cheering from the crowd. As I stepped off the stage, my clones started up a new song, an instrumental one so Ifrit, Amaterasu and Shiva joined me as we walked over to the food table and got ourselves a few hotdogs and other assorted items.

[Cue song Syvelleve by Aleks Svaensson]

Along the way we were thanked and asked questions by the crowd. And more than a few guys tried to ask Shiva and Amaterasu out. However they were all politely declined.

"Hey guys! Awesome performance!" called Zell as he walked over with two hotdogs in one hand.

"Thanks Zell. We're glad everyone likes them," I replied as Zell looked Ifrit up and down.

"W-what is it?" asked Ifrit, a little unnerved at Zell's scrutinising. Zell just smiled and stuck out his hand. "Nice to properly meet you in person!" he said.

Ifrit smiled back and gripped the brawler's hand in a firm handshake. "Same here!" he replied.

"Heyyyy!" called a familiar voice and we all turned to see Selphie walking over to us.

"Hey Selphie!" I greeted.

"Hey Josh. Great music!" she said. "Would you like to join the Garden Festival Committee?"

"Already got plans for the Garden Festival in mind. It's going to be a big concert like this, only way better. A lot more songs too," I said, hoping to wrestle command of the Festival from her.

"Oh! Ok! That's fine with me, just let me help out, ok?" she asked. I blinked. 'Didn't think she'd give it up that easily,' I thought to myself before grinning at her. "Of course you can. Let's give these people the best night of their lives!" We slapped each other a high five. "You got it!" she replied.

A clone then came and tapped Shiva on the shoulder. "Oh, I guess it's time for me to be the star," she said before waving at us and disappearing over to the stage. There was silence as all the people waited to see how her voice would be. She then began to sing with female clones backing her singing and the band playing.

[Cue song Passion -opening version- by Utada Hikaru from Kingdom Hearts II OST]

(Speaking = Shiva, _speaking_ = female clone backing)

_I need more affection than you know_

Omoidaseba haruka haruka  
Mirai wa  
_I need more affection than you know_  
Doko made mo kagayaiteta  
Kirei na aozora no shita de  
Bokura wa  
_I need more affection than you know_  
Sukoshi dake obiete ita

Natsukashii iro ni  
Mado ga somaru

Mae wo muiteru no  
Mata aemasu ka  
Mirai wa  
_I need more affection than you know_  
Doko e demo tsuzuiteru 'n da  
Ooki na kanban no shita de  
Jidai no  
_I need more affection than you know_  
Utsuroi wo mite itai na

Hitoshirezu  
My heart's a battleground  
_I need true emotions_  
_I need more affection than you know_  
_I need true emotions_

Nido to aenu  
Hito ni basho ni  
Mado wo akeru

Omoidaseba haruka haruka  
Mirai wa  
_I need more affection than you know_  
Doko made mo kagayaiteta  
Kirei na aozora no shita de  
Bokura wa  
_I need more affection than you know_  
Itsumademo nemutte ita

My fears my lies  
Aozora no shita

_I need more affection than you know_

When she came to the end of the song, I was blown away. I didn't even hear everyone whooping and clapping around me. All I was focused on, was Shiva.

"That was AWESOME!" yelled Zell over the applauding.

"WooHoo!" screamed Selphie in ecstaticness.

"She's still got it!" called Ifrit to me.

"Huh? What?" I said, looking at him as I came down to earth.

"I said she's still got it. She was always one of the best singers in our little group," repeated the dark skinned man.

"Yeah, she's really good," I mumbled out before another clone tapped both me, Amaterasu and Ifrit on the shoulder. "It's time for the new song," The clone said before disappearing.

"Let's do it!" I said. Amaterasu and Ifrit nodded before we moved back to the stage. I saw the clones set up for a samba like piece and know which song we were going to play.

"Hello again!" I said to the crowd. "The next song is a mixed up samba song so you better get your bodies dancing for this one!" I then turned to everyone, seeing them nod before turning back to the crowd as the first notes of the new song began.

[Cue song Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes Feat. Black Eyed Peas]

(Singing = Listed singer. **Singing** = everyone.)

** Oariá raiô  
Obá Obá Obá  
Oariá raiô  
Obá Obá Obá**

** mas que nada**  
Josh: black eyed peas came to make it **hotter**  
we beat the party **starters**  
bubblin up just like **lava**  
like lava HEATED like a **sauna**  
penetrating THROUGH your body **armor**  
rhythmically we MAS**SAGE** **ya**  
with hip hop mixed up with **samba**  
with samba so yes **yes y`all**  
you know we never stop  
we never rest **y`all**  
the black eyed peas are keeping it funky fresh **y`all**  
and we won't stop until we get Y'ALL, **til we get Y'ALL sayin'**

** Oariá raiô  
Obá Obá Obá  
Oariá raiô  
Obá Obá Obá**

Ifrit: peter piper picked peppers but **Tab rocked ryhmes**  
1,2,3, FOUR, **several times**  
heavy rotation PLAYED by **every kind**  
radio stations BLASTING **EVERY** **mind**  
we crossing boundaries like everyday  
TO ROCK YOUR ROBBIE BOBBIE BEAMER ON THE BAY  
we got we got **tab magnification** tab magnified  
like **every day**

Josh: so yes **yes y'all**  
you know we never stop we never rest y`all **y`all**  
the black eyed peas are keeping it funky fressh **y`all**  
and we won't stop until we get Y'ALL, **til we get Y'ALL sayin**

** Oariá raiô  
Obá Obá Obá  
**Shiva: (lá, lá, lá, lá, lá)**  
Oariá raiô  
Obá Obá Obá**

Ifrit: **drop hot hot** be my daily **operation**  
got to put it work in this crazy **occupation**  
gotta keep it movin' **that's the motivation**  
gotta ride the waves and keep a tight relation  
with my team keeping moving and doing it right  
**i've been in a lab every day til daylight**  
that's the way things move in this FUNKY **business**  
Josh: we took a old samba song and remixed it

Amaterasu: Mas que nada  
Sai da minha frente  
Eu quero passar  
Pois o samba esta animado  
O que eu quero e sambar  
Este samba  
Que e misto de maracatu  
E samba de preto velho  
Samba de preto tu

Shiva: **mas que nada**, we gonna make you feel lil hotter  
the peas and Sergio Mendes heating up sambaaaa  
bada, bada, bada, baaaaaa  
Josh: sergio play your piano sergio play your yo yo yo yo piano (echoing)

**Oariá raiô  
Obá Obá Obá**  
Shiva: (lá, lá, lá, lá, lá)  
**Oariá raiô  
Obá Obá Obá**  
Shiva: (lá, lá, lá, lá, lá)

** Oariá raiô  
Obá Obá Obá**

Amaterasu: Este samba  
Que e misto de maracatu  
E samba de preto velho  
Samba de preto tu  
Este samba  
Que e misto de maracatu  
E samba de preto velho  
Samba de preto tu

Shiva: (lá, lá, lá, lá, lá)

Everyone loved this song. It gave couples the chance to dance more intimately with their partners. After that Ifrit sung Sweet Soul Music by Arthur Conley, Shiva sung Get It Together by , and Amaterasu sung Prayer by Celine Dion. As the song ended I saw Squall being approached by Rinoa. She sure looked different from being in a game, but that was to be expected.

"Ok guys, Rinoa's putting the moves on Squall. Let's get ready to play _that_ song," I said.

"You got it Boss!" she said before organising themselves.

I turned to Amaterasu. "Amaterasu, you have the floor," I said. She nodded before I moved off the stage along with Shiva and Ifrit. She paused before she began to sing.

[Cue song For You by AZU from Naruto Shippuden Ending Theme 12]

(Speaking = Amaterasu. _Speaking_= Backing only. **Speaking** = both.)

Koko ni arunowa kimi ga ima made eranda michi no  
Kotae tachiyo hora jishin motte susumeba ii  
Totemo shizen nano ame agarino  
Asufaruto ni niji kakaru yoni

_Lonely_ kaze ga fuite  
_Feeling_ kiga tsuitayo  
Kotae wa doko nimo nai kedo  
_Call me_ wakatteruwa  
_With you_ ai wa itsumo  
Atae au mono  
For you

**Kitto kimi wa itsu no hika  
Kono sora wo toberu hazu dakara  
Nando tsumazuitato shitemo for you  
Taisetsu na koto wa hitotsu  
Yume miru koto**  
Kokoro dakewa tozasanai de ite

Kizu tsuitemo namida korae gaman shitetayone  
Sonna kimi wo ichiban chikaku de mitekitakara  
Nani mo iwa nakute mo wakatteru yo  
Donna toki mo gambattetta koto

_Lonely_ mayottano wa  
_Try again_ nandodatte  
Yarinaosu kotto dekiru kara  
_I'm here_ sobani iruwa  
_If you need me_ osorenaide  
Shinji au koto for you

**Kitto kimi mo itsu no hika  
Kono sora wo toberu hazu dakara  
Nando kizutsuitato shitemo for you  
Taisetsu na koto wa hitotsu  
Yume miru koto  
**Hitomi dakewa sorasanai de ite

Kimiga regaku yuki ga homeai  
kagera no nai takaramono ni kawaru yo  
ima ryoute hirake fly high

Kitto kimi wa itsu no hika  
Kono sora wo toberu hazu dakara  
Nando tsumazuitato shitemo for you  
**Taisetsu na koto wa hitotsu  
Yume miru koto**  
Kokoro dakewa tozasanai de ite

As Amaterasu was singing, and extremely well I might add, Squall and Rinoa were dancing quite well. I always had a sneaking suspicion that Squall knew how to dance well thanks to classes that taught this stuff and that he was stuffing up on purpose so that Rinoa would leave him alone, including any fan-girls who wanted to dance with the lone wolf. And that the only reason that he began to dance properly in the middle was that Rinoa somehow caught him out.

But today was different. Squall went all out straight away. And so when the song finished up, the fireworks went up and the two were left standing quite close together, watching the coloured lights burst in every direction outside. Then Rinoa spotted someone, presumably Seifer, and walked off, leaving poor Squall left all alone in the middle of the dance floor. However he pissed off quickly, wanting to avoid all the girls currently giving him hungry looks.

"Well done Amaterasu! That was great. You really have a beautiful voice. I just knew you would be perfect for some of the songs I had in mind," I said. She simply smiled and nodded at me.

"Right! Time for the next song," I said while rubbing my hands together. "Ifrit! You're up!" I said. He nodded and stepped up to the mic.

[Cue song The Fountain by Pendulum Feat. Steven Wilson]

You sure, you're right?  
Well no, you're wrong  
You don't feel my energy  
But it won't be long  
I see the sun  
Believe the dark  
Soon I'll disappear  
But I'll make my mark

All these fears  
And all this love  
All you've given me  
Is not enough  
All my dreams  
And all this stuff  
All made real  
And it's not enough

Watching, waiting, shaping, faking  
Shocking, pumping, mocking, stopping  
Falling, stalling, warning, crawling  
Rejecting, perfecting, loving, ending

Behind my eyes  
Is rage alone  
But you don't understand  
It was all home-grown  
I'm not afraid  
I just don't belong  
It may be cynical  
But it all seems wrong

All these fears  
And all this love  
All you've given me  
Is not enough  
All my dreams  
And all this stuff  
All made real  
And it's not enough

Watching, waiting, shaping, faking  
Shocking, pumping, mocking, stopping  
Falling, stalling, warning, crawling  
Rejecting, perfecting, loving, ending

Behind my eyes  
Is rage alone  
But you don't understand  
It was all home-grown  
I'm not afraid  
I just don't belong  
It may be cynical  
But it all seems wrong

All these fears  
And all this love  
All you've given me  
Is not enough  
All my dreams  
And all this stuff  
All made real  
And it's not enough

Watching, waiting, shaping, faking  
Shocking, pumping, mocking, stopping  
Falling, stalling, warning, crawling  
Rejecting, perfecting, loving, ending

This song received the loudest applause yet. It seemed that the song was the crown favourite so far.

"Nice job Ifrit!" I said to him. He grinned. "I had fun."

After that the next several songs that were played were a classic jazz piece called Take The "A" Train by Duke Ellington, a slow Neo Jazz piece called Slowride by Obadia, a lively rock song called Nothing from You (Redanka Remix Radio Edit) by Pint Shot Riot. This one was sung by Ifrit and I. Next was CLOSER by Inoue Joe (Fourth Naruto Shippuden Opening) sung by me and a few of my clones. Then Shiva sung To Know the Unknown by Innosense, I sung Forever by Chris Brown with a few clones to back me, Ifrit put on the romantic groves with Fastlove by George Michael, my clones deadly intoned Indigo Children (JLE Dub Mix) by Puscifer and Shiva and Amaterasu pulled off a beautiful duet on Saltwater (Original Mix) by one of my favourite bands of all time, Chicane. The song was the ten minute version but everyone loved it, getting a bigger applause than Ifrit's job on The Fountain.

Then came the moment I had been waiting for all night. I created several extra clones and they moved all the band equipment off the stage so only the orchestral instruments were left. The last two songs would only involve them.

"Hello there!" I said into the mic. "The next song is a special one as I am going to dance now with Shiva. So if you could please vacate the dance floor..." I asked, hoping that they would move.

"Of course!" someone yelled out.

"You've given us a great night to remember. You should get some dancing in too!" said a girl near the front.

"We'll let you have the floor for this song," said a guy from the left before he, and everyone else move out of the way. I looked to Ifrit, Amaterasu and a few male and female clones. "Well, I'll leave it up to you guys."

"You got it!" they replied.

I then turned to Shiva. "Would the lady care to dance?" I asked, stretching out my hand to her. She smiled and took the offered hand. We then walked down to the dance floor and waited for our cue.

[Cue song Riverdance - Bill Whelan]

Amaterasu: Hear my cry,  
In my hungering search for you,  
Taste my breath on the wind,  
See the sky as it mirrors my colours,  
Hints and whispers begin.

All: I am living to nourish you, cherish you,  
I am pulsing the blood in your veins,  
Feel the magic and power of surrender,  
To life. Uisce Beatha

Amaterasu: Every finger is touching and searching,  
Until your secrets come out,  
In the dance, as it endlessly circles,  
I linger close to your mouth.

All: I am living to nourish you, cherish you,  
I am pulsing the blood in your veins,  
Feel the magic and power of surrender,  
To life. Uisce Beatha

As soon as the singing finished we began to dance. And dance we did. I uploaded information on the duet Riverdance steps into my and Shiva's minds so the steps came naturally for us. But all I could focus on was Shiva. The way she twirled; her hair flying around her in its own dance, her long, toned legs bending and turning as she cracked her heals on the floor, her swaying hips; mesmerizing to watch, her breasts bouncing as she danced with me. Her wide smile and her eyes, oh my god, her eyes. Glinting and sparkling like a pair of exquisite jewels. I was lost in them; they were tugging at my soul. I found myself wishing this dance to never end as we spun around each other. There was no one else in the room. It was just her and me.

But all good things must come to an end and the song ended much too quickly. We separated, breathing a little hard as the dance had taken quite a bit of energy to maintain. We smiled at each other.

"That was a great dance," said Shiva, her chest heaving slightly.

"Sure was. I loved it!" I said truthfully. For a second I thought I saw her blush, but it must've been my imagination.

We walked back to the stage, not even noticing the roaring applause we were getting. I picked up the mic. "Thank you very much. Unfortunately the party is almost over." The crowd groaned out loud at this. "But we have one more song for you." They cheered at this. "So with this song, I wish everyone a good night."

[Cue song Message For The Queen by Tyler Bates from 300 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

This song was apt for the ending of such a wonderful night. The lilting flute (which I personally played) along with the strings spoke of sadness and new hope. And then Amaterasu added to the feeling with her singing. Everyone simply watched as the band played. More than a few had tears in their eyes. Then the song ended and everyone clapped for us.

* * *

(AN: The new chapter is up and I expect some nice reviews to read later on, so go nuts!)

* * *

(UPDATE: 19/11/2011: All listed songs in the concert are available online. See the link in my profile for details.)


	11. Chapter 11: Gathering the Allies

**Chapter 11: Gathering the Allies**

*Yaaaawwwwwn* I rubbed my eyes as I sat up on my bed and looked around my brand new room. It was much bigger than I thought it would be. Zell let me and Squall know about the new rooms before we crashed last night. It turned out that mine and Squall's room were right next to each other.

The room was about as big as a bedsit unit. The large bed was pressed up against the wall with the window wall to the left of the bed. Across from the bed was a desk that had my computer equipment on top. A countertop and sink with cupboards framing the area was to the right of the bed. Under the counter was a bar fridge and sitting on top of the counter itself was a kettle, microwave, a jar of coffee and sugar and a few sets of cutlery. The wardrobe was between the kitchen area and the wall. At the end of my bed were my weapon cases leaning up against the wall. There was a small hallway that led round a corner to the front door. Before the corner was a second door that led to the bathroom.

Judging from the quiet breathing (and snoring in Ifrit's case) inside my mind I guessed that my GF friends weren't up yet. Looking at the clock I saw that it was 7:28 am. I got out of the bed and stepped over to the kettle and begun to prepare a cup of coffee. As the water began to heat up I walked over to the desk to see a letter on top of the laptop computer and next to it, what looked like a white iPhone 4 and a pair of large white headphones. I opened the letter and scanned the neat type.

_Dear Josh,_

_I was able to come by and visit but you were already asleep. I just needed to tell you something. The Timber mission won't come through until three days from today. So you have some time to prepare for the mission ahead. I suggest you fly over to the Deep Sea Research Centre. There are more than a few GF's being held there against their will, not just Bahamut. You'll need all the allies for the coming few months, as you know. You could also drop over to the Shumi Village and get yourself some Ultima charges. Since you're a Sorcerer you could get perhaps 20 or 30 charges from one draw._

_Anyways, take the time to meet a few of the students around Garden. Your popularity meter is quite high and if you get it past Squall's own then various pleasant surprises will open up for you in the future. I ain't saying what they are, that would spoil the surprise._

_Keep it together and I'll speak with you at Deiling City._

_From Sora_

_PS: I watched your performance that I taped last night. Very well done. I've made sure to keep my schedule open for when you do the Garden Festival which I'll come to personally._

_PPS: The iPhone 4 can be used to contact me in case of emergencies but the real reason is so you'll have your music close by as I know how important it is to you. The speakers on it are enhanced so if you want others to listen to the music it's simply a matter of switching the audio mode from personal to public. The music will sound like its coming from a pair of large speakers. There is also an accurate real-time GPS app so you don't get lost on your way to the Deep Sea Research Centre. It's similar to Google Maps on your world. All relevant data on locations has already been uploaded to the map._

_PPPS: There's a little something for you for breakfast in the fridge._

At that point the kettle clicked to signal that the water was boiled. I walked back to the kitchen area, dumped two teaspoons of coffee into a mug with one of sugar. I then poured the water into it and opened the bar fridge door. Inside was a few cartons of light fat milk (which I grabbed one of), roughly a dozen cans of Mountain Dew and, to my surprise, three Sausage and Egg McMuffins. I placed the milk on the counter before grabbing the food from the fridge. They might be cold, but they were still delicious. I took a bite of one as I poured the milk into my coffee mug and mixed it with a teaspoon. I then carried the food and drink over to the bed and placed them on the nightstand before sitting on the bed.

I sighed and began to think about the days ahead while I chewed thoughtfully. My day today would consist of walking around Garden, some training at the training centre, then find either Squall or Zell and ask for a spar before going over to the cafeteria and grabbing some lunch. Then I would visit the library and see if there was a good book worth reading for a few hours, after which I would get some dinner. Then I would go to my room and have a light 2 hour rest. Then I would take my sword and myself to the Quad and proceed to practice my swordplay. Then I would go to sleep.

The next day would be going to the Deep Sea Research Centre and gaining allies, then fly over to the Shumi Village and gain some Ultima spells before flying back home. That would quite possibly take up the whole day. And then on the third day I and the rest of my team would get the Timber mission. I would then proceed to go alone into the lair of Diablos, beat his ass, and gain a new friend. Before continuing to Balamb.

By this time I had finished breakfast and my coffee was all gone. I the stood up and had myself a nice shower before getting changed into my usual clothes.

**"Good morning Josh!"** called Shiva, Ifrit and Amaterasu together.

'Good morning guys. I trust you slept well?' I asked.

**"Like a log,"** replied Ifrit.

**"Nicely,"** said Amaterasu.

**"What's on today's agenda?"** asked Shiva.

'Well we're just going to mull around the Garden today. We won't get our mission until the day after tomorrow,' I replied as I strapped Ragnarok to my back and belted Oathkeeper and Oblivion to my hips.

**"Taking it easy, eh?"** said Ifrit. **"Sounds good to me!"**

'Great!' I said as I walked out the door, but not before I noticed an envelope on the floor. I picked it up and opened it, revealing a letter of induction to SeeD and a card that looked to be my ID card. Reading the letter I discovered that the card also doubled as a credit card for purchases. This was how SeeD's got paid. Salary was automatically transferred to the account the card was linked to. According to the letter, I was to be paid 10,000 gil per 3 days and the limit on the card was 100,000 gil. Meaning that if the amount on the card surpassed 100,000 then the payments would stop until the amount dropped below 100,000. A clever scheme so that NORG wouldn't waste too much money on paying the SeeDs.

Outside was friendly and peaceful. Many people waved at me or greeted me by name and I took the time to say hello back and get to know them slightly. The more this happened, the more I realised that Sora was right, and that I was becoming very popular around here. I was making my way over to the Training centre when I met up with Zell.

"Hey buddy!" I greeted.

"Hey man!" he replied back as we bumped fists.

"So whatcha up to today?" he asked.

"A bit of practicing in the Training Centre. You wanna join in?"

"Sure!" he said before we made our way over to the Training Area. The inside was about as hot and humid as I remembered. We spent an hour owning monsters and magic stocking in there before exiting.

"How bout a spar with me?" I asked.

"Sounds good to me. It'll be a good chance to see each other's strengths and weaknesses," replied Zell.

We then headed up to the second level and found a mostly unoccupied dojo. I removed my sword, coat and gun belt before settling into a Tae Kwon Do stance. "No spells, no weapons. Just pure martial art combat."

"You got it! Prepare to get your ass whopped!" Zell said before lunging in.

* * *

"Damn! You are good!" said Zell as we walked toward the cafeteria. The spar had been a draw and we had created quite a crowd by the time it was over. We had both placed our magic on defence and removed any magic on attack so we could go all out and not worry about injuring the other opponent. The result was a quite fierce spar with many powerful blows and kicks. Zell was more of an all rounder when it came to punches and kicks, while I favoured kicking, hence why I studied Tae Kwon Do.

"So are you," I replied.

"We should do this again some time," he said, grinning at the prospect of another spar with me. I sported an identical grin. "For sure!"

We entered the Cafeteria to see that there wasn't anyone lining up. We were able to get a few hotdogs each before we looked around for a spot. What we found, was Squall in the corner of the room.

"Yo Squall!" I called over to him. He looked up from a book he was reading and nodded to us. We walked over and slid our trays onto the table. I looked over to see that the book that Squall was reading was a training manual on Master level Gunblade Specialisation.

"I thought you were a master of the gunblade already?" I asked.

"I am. Just finishing up the book," he replied.

"I see," I said as I bit into one of my hotdogs.

"So I hear you're from Galbadia Garden. What's it like?" asked Zell.

"Very strict and very disciplined. Run much more like a military academy instead of here," I replied.

"I guess I should be thankful that I'm here rather than there," said Zell as he finished off his last hotdog.

"I think it sounds good," said Squall, not looking up from his book.

"Yeah, you would," I said sarcastically, making Zell laugh. "By the way, where did you run off to last night? After you danced with some raven haired chick you just left. By the way, nice dancing skills."

Squall paused before explaining his talk with Quistis.

"You know, you could of handled that better," I said.

"I don't want to handle anyone else's troubles. I've got my own problems," said Squall in a monotone.

"So don't handle them. All she wanted is for someone to listen to her. That's all. Would it have killed you to at least listen. Talking about your problems helps. Even if the other person doesn't plan to do anything to help, having someone else to just listen really helps the burden lighten," I explained, trying to get Squall to understand.

"Whatever," was the answer I received.

"Typical. You won't let anyone else in because you're afraid of feeling the terrible feeling of loss when that person goes away." Here Squall looked sharply at me. "While it's true that if you keep your distance from everyone, you won't feel the pain, but in reality your also missing out on so much. What your doing is a form of cowardice. You run away because you are afraid of the feeling of loss. But the future is always uncertain. Sure you could have your heart broken because someone very close to you died, but the same person could also stay with you for the rest of your life, giving you so much joy and love." Here I finished my lunch and stood up. "Just think about that," I said before leaving the two new SeeD's behind.

**"That was a good talk you had with him. I just hope he listens,"** said Shiva.

'Me too, Shiva. Me too.'

After the talk I had with Squall, I made my way over to the library, but all that there was to read was training manuals and articles that were relevant to whatever was taught at Balamb Garden. It seemed that the faculty wanted the students to concentrate only on their studies and nothing else. So fiction novels were banned from the library.

So having nothing to do until dinner, I made my way down to the quad and summoned my friends in their human forms. They wore the same outfits the first time I saw them in their human form. We then talked amongst each other. Most of the talk centred around what kind of lives the GF's had when they weren't being summoned. I found out that Shiva had a younger brother called Hyôrinmaru and that Amaterasu had a sister named Kyuubi. I also found out that they were missing as well as several other GFs. They had no idea where they were.

"They may be at the Deep Sea Research Centre," I mentioned.

"What's that?" asked Shiva.

"The Deep Sea Research Centre, also known as Battleship Island. Researchers working at the facility were attempting to develop another draw system, gathering different energy and materials for their study. They were in pursuit of a large draw point said to be found somewhere on the planet. Rumour has it that their research used Guardian Forces for their experiments. Your fellow GFs may be there. That's what we're doing tomorrow. We're flying over there and rescuing those GFs."

Shiva, Ifrit and Amaterasu were shocked at the fact that I would care so much for GFs. They had been used as tools of war since the beginning, but I was treating them like good friends and family. They all smiled.

"Thank you," said Shiva as she reached over and placed a kiss on my cheek. My eyes widened and I felt my face heat up. That kiss had felt so soft and most of all, right.

"It... uh... it was, uh, nothing. Really," I stammered as I controlled the blush that threatened to explode my head.

We talked for a little while longer before I noticed that it was time for dinner. I went over to the cafeteria and picked up some Shepherds Pie before moving back to my room. I ate my tea, fiddled around with the new playlist that I would play at the Garden Festival before getting some quick shuteye.

About two hours later I woke up and looked outside. Darkness greeted me, signalling that it was indeed night time. I stood up, hearing the soft, and not-so-soft, breathing inside my head, and picked up my sword from its case. I made sure to turn off the light before walking outside.

It was dark in the corridor from the dorms to the main complex. And quiet. I checked my watch and saw that it was a little under 9:00 PM. I quickly made my way into the brightly lit main building and headed south-west to the quad.

The quad was very quiet. There were a few lights that illuminated the area, but most of it lay in semi-shadow, lit partially by the nearby lights. And no-one was here.

"Good," I said softly to myself before placing the sword on my back, feeling the small connection between the sword and me strengthen so the blade wouldn't fall off my back. I then began to flow through the movements of the Sun 73 Form of Tai-Chi. I hadn't done any exercises since coming here, so I was feeling a little stiff. But as I continued to flow back and forth, like water, I felt myself relaxing as I gently submerged into the rhythm.

After about two sets I noticed that someone was watching me. I turned to see that it was Squall. It seemed he wanted to get a bit of moonlight gunblade practice himself. I stopped and waved at him.

"What's up?" I asked.

"What were you doing?" he questioned.

"Oh this?" I asked as I began the form again. "It's called Tai-Chi. It's a form of martial arts. However it isn't meant to attack, though the forms can help you be more formidable in battle. It's designed to relax you while building up fitness. It also promotes your health, rids stress, improves concentration and overall well-being," I said all this as I continued to move through the steps.

"Sounds like a useful thing to have," noted the lone wolf.

"Sure is," I replied as I moved through a complex part before settling into the gentle rhythm again.

After finishing the set I was on I stopped and drew my sword. I turned to Squall. "I take it you came down here for some sword practice. Don't let me stop you." I then began to practice the many moves and techniques that I could do with a Zweihander blade. After a few moments Squall joined me and together we practiced for the next hour. Afterwards we were panting slightly from the workout.

"Josh," began Squall, but he paused.

"Yeah?" I asked, prompting him to continue.

"What you said... back in the cafeteria," he began.

"Oh that? Sorry if I seemed too preachy to you," I apologised as I thought he was bitter about having his weakness thrown into his face. I turned around to study the stars and moon. The moon was huge. In the back of my mind I wondered what the tide was like.

Squall was silent for a minute before he spoke up again. "You were right." I turned around, my face betraying slight surprise but inside I was jumping for joy. 'Is Squall ready to change this early?'

"I am afraid of losing someone. When I was just a kid, two people I cared for deeply, suddenly disappeared. From then onwards I decided that to make sure I didn't feel that aching feeling, I wouldn't get close to anyone ever again. After all, in the end, you're all alone."

I was slightly confused. 'Two people? There was someone other than Ellone that left the orphanage early?' I dismissed this thought as I would concentrate on it later. I smiled. "Squall, you've been missing out on the greatest feeling of all. The feeling of belonging. The feeling of being wanted. Friends are a great source of this. The more friends, the better the feeling. You may lose one or two, or you may lose them all. But then you move on and make new friends. You don't forget them, but you don't let their deaths weigh you down. I'm not expecting you to change overnight. I just want you to do what's right for yourself." I then slung my sword back onto my back and began to walk out of the quad. Before I left completely, I turned toward Squall slightly.

"Let me know what your answer is, when you find it." With that, I turned away, and walked up the stairs.

* * *

**"So where is this place anyway?"** asked Shiva as I was gliding at supersonic speeds over the water. Thankfully I was unaffected by the speed in my body and sight, so I was able to keep a clear eye on the surroundings. To the right of me, the southern shore of the Western Continent sped past me. To the left, the shattered continent of Centra.

'Should be right in the middle of the sea, directly ahead of us,' I replied as the Island Closest to Hell appeared on the edge of the horizon to the right and quickly disappeared around the curve of the world. Needed to go there sometime to stock up on Fury Fragments so I could refine some Aura spells. They would be useful in kicking some bosses ass with Limit Breaks.

After a few hours flying; every now and then checking the GPS to make sure I was on track, I caught sight of a half sunken metal platform. 'There it is,' I said as I dived towards it. I landed on the path leading into the ruined facility. Everywhere was green shrubbery, overgrown onto the path. I walked over to the door and stepped inside.

The room wasn't the same as I saw in the game. The large blue core in the middle was the same, as well as the overgrown floor covered in vines and tree roots. But lining the opposite side were large glass chambers filled with colourless gel of some sort. There were seven in all. And suspended inside were large gemstones. GF gemstones.

I took a step forward before I realised where exactly I was. Every misstep resulted in a battle with a Red Dragon, and powerful ones. No matter how powerful I seemed to be, there was no way I was strong enough to take on successive, fully mature, Red Dragons. But I couldn't see anything. Turning to the blue core in the middle of the room I decided to start with Bahamut.

I took another step forward before a female voice echoed in my mind.

_So, do you wish to challenge me?_

'No,' I thought in my mind. 'I've come to free you.'

The blue light wavered slightly, as if questioning my words.

'It is true. I am not like those humans who poked and prodded you. Did strange things to you. I am a Sorcerer, and I have gained the privilege of summoning a Guardian Force in their true form. Shiva, Ifrit and Amaterasu have already given me their blessings.'

The blue light flickered violently for a brief moment, which I translated to Bahamut being shocked.

'I would like for you, Bahamut, and for all others, to join me, where you will not be treated as tools of war, but as friends of mine and others. As equals. As comrades. I'll summon Shiva, Ifrit and Amaterasu as proof, if you wish.'

There was a pause before the blue light pulsed in acceptance.

_Very well._

I bowed before focusing on my three friends and summoning them in their true forms. Shiva I had seen before, but Ifrit looked like his FFX form too. Long, black horns curved over his head with beads and jewels attached to his sideburn hair. His muzzle was more pronounced and he hunched over more than his avatar form.

Amaterasu was simply beautiful. She was an elegant and feminine white nine-tailed vixen. Every inch of her fur was white. Only her eyes were a vibrant shade of blue.

**"Bahamut, what this man says is true. He truly cares for our kind, more than anyone else has,"** said Shiva. **"If you don't trust him, then trust us. Will you join us?"**

There was a long pause before the blue light expanded to fill the room with light. When the light disappeared, there was a large hole where the blue core had been. And there, hovering in the air, her wings beating rhythmically, was Bahamut.

**"I trust you cousin, but forgive me if I'm not completely trusting of this man. I will join you, and afterwards, if I deem you worthy, you may have access to my true form,"** she said before glowing and shrinking at the same time. After it had all finished, there was a grey gemstone lying on the ground.

I picked it up and while Ifrit, Shiva and Amaterasu in their human forms gathered the other seven GF's from the tanks, I walked over to the hole and peered in. I was instantly hit with the feeling of immense dread. There was something powerful down there. Very, very powerful.

"I guess that the researchers finally found what they were looking for, and left fearing the power they had found. That's Ultima Weapon down there. And boy does it feel powerful. I can't believe I can feel it's presence from all the way here," I muttered to myself.

"That's the ultimate monster down there. Even us GF's fear it's power," said Amaterasu as she walked over to look inside, only to pull back violently. "I have never seen or felt it's presence before, but others have. I always thought their stories were over-the-top. But now I see they were underestimating the feeling I feel now."

"What's up?" asked Ifrit as he walked over with four GF stones in his hands.

"Ultima Weapon is down there. We can feel it's presence from all the way down there," I explained.

"Damn! Really?" asked the fire demon as he popped his head over the edge of the hole, only to have a similar reaction to Amaterasu. "Shit! That's a whole lotta power. That's got to be the strongest force on the planet!"

'You think that's bad, wait till we see Omega Weapon,' I thought, getting chills down my spine. If Ultima Weapon felt like this, then I couldn't imagine what Omega would feel like.

"All done here," said Shiva as she looked over the hole to see what we were looking at. "Fuck! What the hell is that?"

"Ultima Weapon," I said simply.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yep. We'll be back to kick it's ass later when we're a whole lot stronger," I said before walking out of the room with my friends in tow.

"You think we'll be able to win?" asked Ifrit.

"Sure. We just need to get a whole lotta more powerful than our current strength. Plus we'll need everyone's help," I replied.

Outside I felt more free. The presence of Ultima Weapon was constrictive and choking so I was glad to be in the fresh air. By the looks on my GF friends, they felt the same, glad to be out of that place. We walked down to the landing pad where the Ragnarok airship had landed in the game.

"Are you able to summon our new allies out?" I asked Ifrit as I threw Bahamut's crystal to Shiva.

"Sure. Let's see who we have here. I've got Valefor, Master Shifu and Dante," Ifrit announced.

"I have my sister Kyuubi, Sukuna and Kouryújin," said Amaterasu happily over the discovery of her sister.

"And I have my little brother Hyôrinmaru and of course, Bahamut," reported Shiva, also smiling at the prospect of being reunited with her little brother.

"Well then? Let's get to summoning!" I called out and soon there were flashes of light as all the rescued GF's were summoned to the landing platform.

Valefor looked just like she did in FFX. Large leathery wings, a long mane of red hair and a bird-like, female body, almost like a harpy.

Master Shifu looked just like his form from Kung-Fu Panda. He was a small red panda with large eyes, a very long white moustache, very large ears and a strong looking flute/staff weapon in his hand.

Dante looked like his Devil May Cry anime version. He had neck length silver hair which was somewhat parted at the fringe, green eyes and wore the same costume from Devil May Cry anime. Interestingly enough he only wielded his Ebony and Ivory guns and didn't have Rebellion attached to his back.

Kyuubi looked much like her sister in respects to her shape and size. However her fur was completely red and she had ruby red eyes. Like her sister's avatar form, she only had one tail.

Sukuna was one I had never seen before. She bared a resemblance to Yuna of FFX. The outfit was the same but the colours were mostly forest greens and stormy greys. Her hair, dark olive green in colour, was long and bound up into a large singular plat. She had grey eyes and overall she excluded a feeling of life, healing and rain. She even smelt like rain. She wielded a simple staff.

Kouryújin was another one I had never seen before. Later on I found out that he was Bahamut's older brother. The dragon was all black and dark greys and looked to be the same shape and size as the Bahamut from FF XIII, except he looked organic, not mechanic. Golden eyes looked around at their new surroundings.

Hyôrinmaru looked like a western styled dragon. Icy blues covered his entire form. As soon as he looked around and spotted Shiva he called out, "Sis!" and stomped over to her. Others were having similar reactions. The fox sisters were very emotional and Bahamut and Kouryújin hugged each other.

"What the bloody hell's happening?" asked Dante, sounding like his DMC Anime English voice.

"You've been freed from this place by that man there," replied Ifrit, pointing a long claw towards me.

"Him?"

"That's right."

Dante then strode over to me and I saw that he was about a head taller than me. "Thanks kid!" he said, clapping one gloved hand on my shoulder.

"You're welcome," I replied, grinning, when a calming feeling washed over me and I felt someone hug me. I turned to see that it was Sukuna. "Thank you so much!" she cried, tears falling down her face.

"It's all right, don't cry," I smiled, embarrassed. As she let go I felt a tug on my coat and looked down to see Shifu looking up at me. "Thank you friend! We owe you our lives," he said, clearly speaking from the heart.

"It was nothing," I replied, feeling my face heating up from all the attention. A strong wind fluttered around me and I looked up to see Valefor land next to me and bow her head. "Thank you," she said simply. 'I guess she's not one for words much,' I thought to myself before I was hit by something large and furry and was knocked to the ground. I looked to see what had hit me and saw Kyuubi nuzzling up to me and licking my face once. "Thank you so very much. Now I'm finally reunited with my sister!"

"Ok! Ok! It's ok!" I laughed as I picked myself up from the ground. When I did so I faced Kouryújin and Hyôrinmaru, who both bowed their heads towards me. "Even though the others have said it, I will say it again; thank you," Kouryújin said with Hyôrinmaru nodding furiously.

I smiled, almost overwhelmed by all the thanks. "You're all very welcome. You're all free to do whatever you wish now, but I simply ask that you listen to me before you make up your mind." Everyone became silent as I told them of my situation.

After ten minutes I came to the end of my story. "What I'm trying to say is that your help in the coming battles would be really appreciated. However if you have no wish to join the fight, then I understand and won't hold it against you. But know that if you join up with us, you won't be treated like simple tools of war, but as equals, comrades and friends. I promise on behalf of my human friends."

There was silence. Then Dante grinned and spoke. "I don't know bout these guys, but I'm always ready to kick ass. I enjoy it. I'm in!"

"It sounds to me that things are going to get much more dangerous for you. I would be glad if you can put my healing powers to use," replied Sukuna, bowing her head.

"It would be an honour to fight by your side for world peace," said Master Shifu.

"I'm in," spoke Valefor simply.

"I'm with you! I'm not going to be separated from my sister ever again! Besides, this could be fun!" said Kyuubi.

"Same here! My sister means everything to me. I'll join you!" said Hyôrinmaru.

Kouryújin nodded. "I find myself sympathetic to your plight and think your goal is a worthy one. I will fight with you!"

"Ok then. Know that some of you will be with my friends. I will explain the situation with them and then I'll summon you all so you can pick who to go with," I announced. They all nodded before beginning to glow brightly and shrink back to their gem form. Shiva, Ifrit, Amaterasu and Bahamut nodded before they returned to my mind. I then released my wings and took off like a rocket; my destination, Shumi Village.

* * *

"Well this was a little unexpected," I said to myself quietly as I looked around the city skyline of Timber. It was brown, dirty, but had a sense of rebellion on the wind.

I was on my way to the Shumi village with Bahamut commenting on how my mind was so spacious (-_-') when I realised that they might not have an ATM for me to pay the fee for the Ultima spells. So I needed to get to a place where I could withdraw the correct amount before moving on. Timber was the closest populated area to where I was then. So I flew to the edge of the town and henged into a Galbadian soldier so I could get past the guards at the entrance. From there it was easy to get to the bank and gain the necessary funds. Afterwards I decided to explore a bit more.

The town's name was derived from the surrounding woods and due to the region's natural resources, Galbadia invaded the area 18 years ago. Under Galbadian occupation the woodland decreased dramatically from wood harvesting. Prior to its occupation, those in the resistance were hunted down, and many citizens were killed and imprisoned leading to the deep-seated hostility with the locals. Many of Timber's citizens have, or presently belong to, some resistance group, although most of these groups remain largely inactive due to the strong Galbadian hold.

The town had four train stations, but because of the Galbadian soldiers, travellers generally don't stay long. Due to the citizens' disobedience with the current government the town had never really prospered under Galbadian regiment.

For a long time, Timber's mass media reflected local political ideology, but then was heavily censored by the government. An atmosphere of new and old blends in the city, with houses and stores having a stone-made look, while the TV station has a futuristic appearance. The mixture of Timber and Galbadia's crests around the city point to the town's complicated history. Timber used to have its own military troops while an independent nation, but following Galbadian occupation that body was dissolved and Galbadian soldiers serve as the peace-keeping force. In order to give its government a firmer presence, a few platoons of Galbadian soldiers were stationed in Timber.

As I was walking past Timber Maniacs, a publishing administration for most magazines that traversed the world such as Weapons Monthly and Timber Maniacs which centred on freelance writing, I spotted a familiar face. It was Rinoa. She was dressed in her usual long, sleeveless, blue-hued, rib-knit duster sweater that has a pair of white wing designs on the back, matching rib-knit arm warmers, a black halter top, a denim button up skirt, a black ribbon on her left arm, as well as black bike shorts that have zippers going down the front with a pair of silver buckled black boots. Her necklace had her usual ring attached. Her hair was black with caramel streaks through her bangs. To be perfectly honest, she looked like a regular schoolgirl in casual clothes.

As we passed, she gave me a very nasty look. I was about to ask what her problem was, but realised that I was still Galbadian soldier henged. I shook my head and proceeded to move away. I needed to leave town so I could fly over to Shumi village. It was getting late here, which meant it was roughly 2:00 at Balamb Garden. I had 4 hours to do my business.

I was able to get outside with no problems and as soon as I was out of sight from the city, I reverted back to my original appearance, released my wings and took off in a North-Easterly direction.

* * *

'It's f-f-f-f-f-fucking c-c-c-cold here!' I thought as I landed in front of the large glass and metal dome of the outer entrance of the Shumi Village. 'I g-guess that's why t-t-they call it W-W-Winter Island.'

I hurried inside and sighed with relief as warmth spread over me. I looked around to see three Shumi guarding a draw point. From the looks of it, the magic spring was overflowing with Ultima charges. Perfect!

I walked up to the group. The Shumi in front looked up at me. The Shumi were yellow skinned humanoid people with hands that had very long fingers. This was used to dig and craft at a master level. Most Shumi were holed up here but the few that traversed the world were merchants that sold rare and high quality items crafted either by themselves or from other Shumi.

"This spring holds powerful magic, however a price must be paid to draw from it," said the lead Shumi. "If you wish to do so, it will cost 5,000 gil. Are you prepared to pay this price?"

I nodded and handed over the wad of cash I received from the ATM. The Shumi counted the notes before he nodded and moved out of the way.

'Ok guys, this is an Ultima Draw Point so I need to milk this spring for all it's got. Can you power up my drawing abilities so I can do so?' I asked everyone inside.

**"I can help,"** spoke Bahamut. I then felt a deep seated power seep into my drawing skills. I then focused on the spring and watched in amazement as a torrent of magic rushed into me. My eyes widened as I felt the power emanating from the spells. After several seconds the gushing energy slowed and stopped. I could barely see the spring now. I had completely drained it.

'Woah... how many Ultima charges did I get?' I asked nervously.

**"Hyne be damned... you drew 42 charges in one hit! That's completely unheard of!"** replied Shiva in awe.

'Damn! 42? That's a shitload of power! I want you to take off the spells currently on my strength, health and magic and replace them with Ultima spells. 10 on health, 20 on strength and 10 on magic. The last two will be on casting.' I ordered. There was a moment's pause before I felt my muscles bulge with power. They settled down to their regular size but I still felt the power inside. My magic sense had jumped considerably too. And I felt tougher too.

'Wow!' was all I thought as I walked away from the Shumi group and exited the dome. It was immediately freezing again.

'Damn the cold! Why couldn't the Ultima spells have strengthened my resistance to cold!' I whined.

**"I can help with that,"** replied Shiva and a moment later the stinging cold was replaced with a gentle warmth.

'What did you do?' I asked.

**"I let you borrow some of my powers. They will protect you from the cold. I will regain them when we reach Balamb Garden,"** the ice goddess replied.

'Well thanks a lot Shiva! I owe you one,' I thought as I released my wings and rocketed away.

* * *

(AN: Review up my chapter. Let me know what you think.)


	12. Chapter 12: Mission Start!

**Chapter 12: Mission Start!**

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

"Mmmahh..." I moaned as I opened one dreary eye and looked at the alarm clock. 7:00 AM. *yaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwnnnnnnn*

I hit the snooze button and promptly went back to sleep.

* * *

**-] Five Minutes Later [-**

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

"Mmaaaahhh!" I whined as I hit the turn off button and dragged myself out of bed and headed for the shower. As soon as the hot water hit my face I woke up and sighed at the relaxing feeling of the water. When I got out I wasn't yawning, but I still made a coffee for myself.

I then remembered what day it was. The day of the Timber mission. I grinned. I couldn't wait to go!

**"Someone's rearing to go,"** said Shiva.

'Morning Shiva. You the only one up?' I asked.

**"Yeah. As you can probably hear, Ifrit is still asleep."**

I listened and heard the telltale sound of heavy snoring. 'I don't understand how you can sleep with that motorbike engine idling next to you,' I said.

**"Well you should think of the GF space in your brain as a share house. We all have our private rooms to sleep in and we all congregate in the common room after we get up to be ready for summoning,"** she explained. **"Some GF's, like the nine tailed fox sisters, sleep together."**

'I see. By the way, do you guys eat anything?' I asked. I had always wondered what GF's ate, if they did at all.

**"Not really. We can, but we don't have to, to stay alive," **Shiva replied.

'And what sort of connection do you guys have to summoners? I really don't get that.'

**"Well, we GF's live and breathe in our true form, and we live in areas that suit our elements. For example, I live in the mountains of Winter Island. And you know where Ifrit lives; in the Fiery Cavern. You follow?"**

'Uh huh,' I nodded mentally.

"**Now when regular humans summon us from their obtained GF stones, what they are really summoning are Avatars of us, which are anything between 1/10 to 1/20 of our true strength. These Avatars live inside the stones, and when they are junctioned to a person, they then live inside the summoner's mind and are summoned from there. However each Avatar copy is linked to our true forms and each one thinks and acts like our original selves. Kind of like your Kage Bunshin. Not only that but multiple Avatars can be summoned by multiple people at one time. You still following?"**

'Yep!' I replied.

"**Ok. Now when we present the larger jewel to summoners who we have deemed worthy of using our true form, the jewel does nothing more than remove the Avatar from the summoner's mind and replace it with a mental link that links your mind with our true form's mind, allowing for telepathy conversations and to stop the suppression of the summoner's early memories. The summoner can still summon us in our Avatar form, but it will be the original that will be summoned. And finally, only one summoner can have access to our true form until either that mental link is revoked by either side or the summoner dies. Understand?"**

'Yeah, I do,' I replied. It made sense. The Avatar copies were like free demos of paid software. You didn't get the full software, but multiple people could use them at one time. "So the Avatar GF's do supress the summoner's memories after all." I couldn't be sure just from the groups talks about it while at Trabia, but now I knew the truth.

"**That's right. Our powers supress that part of the brain. It can't be helped," **Shiva replied.

"Well time to get ready for the mission," I said to myself as I began to dress myself while humming a song I played at the SeeD inauguration party. After dressing myself, the coffee was done. I added extra milk to cool it down so I could gulp it quickly. I strapped on my belt, holstered my guns, placed my sword on my back, pocketed my iPhone 4 and rested my headphones around my neck. I then placed several Potion and Phoenix Down vials into my items pouch as well as all the Remedies I had, which was three. I looked around, seeing if there was anything more I needed to bring. I spotted the new GF stones lying on a shelf and quickly pocketed them. And so I looked around once more, realising it would be a few days before I came back. I then turned away and walked out of the room.

As I exited the room, I saw that Zell's door was open. I poked my head inside to see the brawler grasping a long object. The device was known as a T-board, and used small thrusters in conjunction with antigravity technology to allow the rider to "surf the air" or whatever was said on an advertisement poster that I had seen in the common room of my old bedroom.

Zell himself wore a pair of casual baggy blue shorts, a black muscle shirt, and a heavy but short jacket. The jacket had a red chest and back, but featured short dark blue sleeves with a lighter blue flame running up their length. He also wore a pair of dark red sneakers.

"Hey Z! I don't think you should bring that along," I said to him. He turned around and grinned.

"But it could be a good asset to this mission!" he tried to reason.

"I have no doubt. But do you really want to ride that down to the meeting spot, only for it to be confiscated by the Garden Jerk Squad?" I reasoned.

"Oh yeah! You're right. Better keep it here for the moment," he said before leaving it leaning against the wall.

"Ok, let's go partner!" he said enthusiastically.

* * *

We arrived on time with Squall joining us after we swung by the Cafeteria to get some Sausage and Egg rolls for breakfast. They tasted like the ones from Subway. Selphie was already waiting with the Headmaster, along with a faculty, who was there to probably make sure Cid kept in line.

Squall wore his usual black leather outfit with his gunblade sheathed at his left side. Looking at his item pouches I saw that he was prepared for as much as possible, with a couple of Antidotes, Holy Waters, Eye Drops, Softs and Echo Screens each.

Selphie was clad in a short yellow dress featuring a belt with item pouches and other equipment. She wore her oversized nunchakus strapped across her back.

"Ah, good," Cid said as he spotted the three of us walking toward us. "Everyone's here."

"That we are sir," I replied. "And we're all eager to complete our first mission." Cid smiled before he began the briefing.

"Well, about your first mission," he began. "This is a covert operation. You are to go to Timber. There, you are to support a resistance faction against the Galbadian occupation. That's the gist of what you'll be doing. You'll be under their command for the operation. So, in other words, you'll be attached to their forces for this mission. Obey their commands, offer advice, and support them in their objectives. A member of the faction will contact you at Timber Station, where the Balamb train connects at Timber."

"This person will approach you and say 'The forests of Timber sure have changed,'" the Faculty stated from behind Cid. "At this time, you must reply 'But the owls are still around.' That is the password."

"Again, just follow the faction's orders," Cid reiterated.

"Uhhh . . ." Zell said suddenly, looking around at the group. "Just us four?"

"Correct," the Faculty stated. I thought I saw the Faculty's head turn towards Cid as he spoke the next words, almost as if he were glaring at the Headmaster. "We have agreed to do this mission for very little money. Ordinarily, we would never accept such requests, but . . ."

"Enough talk about that," Cid interrupted. He turned towards me. "Well, Josh, you're assigned to be the squad leader."

I pointed at myself in surprise. "Me sir?"

Cid nodded. "You displayed great leadership skills on the way back from the Dollet Communications Tower. So I have judged you to be capable as the squad leader." Here I could've sworn the Headmaster flick his eyes to the Faculty member and a smirk appear on his face. 'Heh, score one for the Headmaster. In your face Faculty!' I grinned in my head.

"Use your best judgement based on the situation. Squall, Zell and Selphie, you are to support Josh and give your all to carry out the faction's plans," Cid added. The three other SeeD nodded in understanding.

"Well, then," Cid said. "Make sure you take the train scheduled to leave at 2000 hours. The trip will take approximately twelve hours to cross the ocean between Balamb and Timber. You should arrive at 0800 hours tomorrow morning, where the contact will be waiting. You have free time until then. Dismissed." We nodded and began to return to Garden. "Except for you, Josh," Cid added.

I looked over my shoulder before turning around. I looked back at my friends. "See ya in a mo," I called over to them before I walked over to the Headmaster. As I approached, he bent and picked up a wrapped up object that was laying next to his feet.

"This is for you, Josh," Cid explained. "One is given to the top graduate of every SeeD class. It's a lamp, containing a powerful Guardian Force by the name of Diablos. Rub it to bring him forth."

"Oh I know all about Diablos from my past studies. Feisty one, isn't he?" I asked.

"Indeed. You should be well prepared before taking him on. You won't have to worry about accidentally summoning him while that cloth is over the lamp, however."

"Thank you," I said to the Headmaster, tucking the lamp under my arm and saluting Cid. "My squad will be ready to leave tonight."

"Good. Dismissed."

* * *

"Hey man! What did the Headmaster want?" asked Zell as I caught up to the three new SeeDs.

"He gave me this," I showed the wrapped package. "It's a lamp with the GF Diablos inside. The GF for Gravity magic."

"Cool! So do you have to battle it?" asked Selphie.

"Yeah, but I'll do that a little later. Right now, I need you three to come with me outside," I said.

"Why?" asked Squall.

"Ohh, you'll see," I grinned at him as I led the way outside.

After several minutes we had traversed a reasonable distance from the Garden. I looked around. "This'll do."

"For what?" asked Zell.

"For this," I said before I withdrew a random GF stone from my pocket and summoned the GF within it before moving quickly to the next one. One pro I had discovered about my summoner powers was that I could summon any GF instantly; there was no need to focus on a certain length of time. So I was able to quickly summon all the new GFs. They all appeared or flew in to surround the stunned SeeDs in front of me.

"Hello everyone! Remember that I was going to introduce you to my friends? Well here they are!" I said as the GF's looked at the three teenagers.

"Hmm, they look a little nervous," mentioned Kouryújin.

"Well they are surrounded by powerful GFs, aka you guys," I said a little amused. "Well Squall, Selphie, Zell? This is Kouryújin, Sukuna, Dante, Master Shifu, Valefor, Hyôrinmaru, Kyuubi and Bahamut." I then turned to my GF friends. "Guys, this is Squall Leonheart, Zell Dincht and Selphie Tilmitt. Say hello."

Everyone exchanged hellos with each other.

"So?" I asked, looking at the GFs. "What do you think?"

"I think I'll choose Squall," said Kouryújin.

"I'll pair up with Zell here!" announced Master Shifu.

"I choose Selphie," replied Valefor.

"I think I'll stick with you Josh," said Kyuubi.

"Me too," added Bahamut.

"I'm still not completely sure yet," said Hyôrinmaru.

"Same here, but you can summon me if you need help," added Sukuna.

"I'll stick with you, kid, for the moment," said Dante.

"Ok then. Now that that is settled, it's time for me to go convince Diablos to join us," I said.

"Diablos? Good luck kid," said Dante.

"Well hopefully I can convince him to join without battling," I said.

"Maybe," the half-demon replied dubiously. Then everyone dissolved into their stones. I absorbed Dante, Kyuubi, Bahamut and Sukuna, which Shiva, Ifrit and Amaterasu immediately began to fill them in. I picked up the remaining stones and gave Kouryújin to Squall, Master Shifu to Zell and Valefor to Selphie.

"Thank you, but where did you get them all?" asked Squall.

"Yesterday I flew over to the Deep Sea Research Centre. Also known as Battleship Island. There I found Bahamut as well as several other GFs in stasis. I liberated them and told them the situation. They agreed to join us to help us, as long as you don't use them as personal weapons, but as comrades, even as friends. As equals." Here they nodded, indicating that they would.

"After that I flew to the Northern Continent, specifically the Shumi village. There was a rumour that there was an Ultima draw point there. I paid a visit and discovered that it was true. I drew the magic spring completely dry and so now I'm hyped up on a little over forty Ultima spells." By now all three SeeDs were bug eyed.

"Now then, let's see if I can convince Diablos to join our cause," I muttered. 'Hopefully this won't suck as much as it does in the game,' I finished off in my mind before unwrapping the black lamp and touching the surface, and everything went black.

* * *

"Well my prognosis of this place is that it's dark!" I said. I was standing in a void. There seemed to be solid ground beneath me but when I looked down, all I could see was blackness. The only thing that wasn't black was me. Oh, and the flying demonic entity hovering in front of me.

**"Who disturbs my slumber!"** roared Diablos.

'Yeash! Someone has low blood sugar levels in the mornings,' I thought before speaking. "Now there's no need to be so irritable Diablos! I just came to ask you if you wanted to join my team. I've been given the privilege of summoning Ifrit, Shiva and Amaterasu in their true form, thereby they trust me. I look on GFs as equals, comrades and friends. And I would like you to join us. If you do not wish to, then that's fine by me, I won't hold it against you," I called up to him.

Diablos was silent for a few moments. **"Prove that you have access to summon GFs in their second tier form!"**

"Ok," I replied before I focused. 'Amaterasu?... actually, can I call you Amy?'

**"You may. We are good friends. I am only called Amaterasu formally. I trust you are asking me to appear in my true form?"**

'That's right. I'd like to recruit Diablos without the need to fight.'

**"Very well Josh,"** Amy replied before white light shot out of me and condensed into a large ball. Then an elegant white foreleg poked out of the white ball and soon Amy stepped completely out of the light. She looked absolutely magnificent. She looked just like her avatar form but with nine large white fox tails waving behind her. And it seemed that I wasn't the only one in awe at her. Diablos also was enthralled with her.

**"This man speaks the truth. He does treat us GFs not like weapons, but as living beings and friends. I trust him with my life,"** Amy spoke in that elegant high class voice. I was floored that Amy trusted me that much.

**"Know that we feel the same toward you,"** said Shiva, and I got the feeling that Ifrit was nodding his head.

"Thank you," I replied. Amy smiled and nodded her head to me.

Diablos also smiled. **"Very well. I will join you. However I will hold off in granting you access to my second form until such time as I trust you as well."**

"Of course. That's completely fine with me," I replied.

Diablos bowed his head before dark energy condensed around him before he disappeared, leaving a dark grey jewel behind. I picked it up and absorbed it into my body.

**"Hey! This place is-"**

'Don't say it! Guys, give our newest friend the lowdown,' I said inside my mind before I was expelled from the lamp.

* * *

I opened my eyes to see Selphie and Zell looking at me in varying degrees of worry. I shifted slightly to see that my head was currently resting on Selphie's lap. "Hey guys. What's up?" I asked them.

"Well you appeared from the lamp unconscious. We were worried about you," said Zell.

"Really?" I asked before sitting up on the grass and looking at Squall, who was standing a little ways off. "Even you?" I asked teasingly.

"Hmph," replied the lone wolf indifferently.

"Well I'm alright, and I gained a new ally," I reported. "So when did we need to get to the train station?"

"2000 hours," replied Selphie.

"Well then, I guess we have some time to work out each other's strengths and weaknesses so we can cover each other more effectively and work as a team more efficiently," I suggested.

"You're the boss," replied Zell.

"Oh yeah, that's right. I am. That's going to take some getting used to."

* * *

Night time had descended over Balamb by the time we had made our way to the town. Our driver was supposed to take us all the way, but Selphie had commandeered the steering wheel through her uncanny ability to get people to do what she wanted. A combination of her puppy-dog eyes and a sincere "Please?" had made the SeeD acquiesce the driver's seat, which most of us soon regretted when Selphie took the car up well in excess of seventy miles per hour down the road. Personally I loved it.

She'd handled the car remarkably well, despite Zell's protests that they'd all crash and die. At Zell's words, Selphie had just shouted for him to junction GFs if he was going to be such a wimp. I just whooped loudly with Selphie 'Woo Hoo' ing along side me.

Despite her "suicidal death wish," as Zell called it, Selphie had reached Balamb with everyone on board in one piece. We stopped on the outskirts of the city, where our driver took over and drove the vehicle back to Balamb after we had disembarked.

"Are you crazy?" Zell muttered as Squall led the way across town to the train station.

"No," Selphie replied, giggling at Zell's attitude. "I just like going fast!"

"Hell yeah!" I grinned widely as Selphie and I linked arms and laughed.

"Do you like crashing too?" Zell replied, shaking his head. "One slip-up and we'd be turned into smears on the road!"

"Not with me driving!" Selphie said. "Best driver in Trabia Garden!" she proclaimed, pointing to her chest. "Expert with any vehicle, anytime! Cars, trucks, motorcycles, vans, SUVs..."

"Fine, fine..." Zell muttered.

"I'm even certified to run buses and armored cars! And tanks too!"

"They teach you how to drive tanks in Trabia?" Zell asked, surprised.

"Not really, but I know the basics," Selphie explained. "I even know how to fire the cannons!"

"Josh, please tell me these resistance faction guys aren't gonna try to steal a tank..." Zell pleaded to me. "I think if Selphie gets to dive it we may blow up more of Timber than we can save."

"I don't think they're going to do something like that," I laughed over my shoulder. "The most they'll want us to do is to kick enough Galbadian ass so control tips toward the rebels and that Timber becomes an independent nation once again."

"You think so?" asked Squall, speaking for the first time since the trip started.

"Maybe. You never know what rebel factions will think up. It all depends on how desperate they are. The more desperate they are, the more crazy their ideas will be," I said. Squall nodded, understanding.

By this time we had arrived at the train station. At this time of night, very few people were out, and the train station was relatively empty, save for a couple of civilian passengers and some train staff standing on the platform next to the sleek vehicle. I approached the ticket booth and told them we were with Garden and needed to use this train. That was all it took; Garden had already arranged the train tickets and paid the fare. Much different than in the game, where Garden was so cheap that they didn't even front the cash for the trip. I took the four tickets and handed them to the conductor standing guard outside. A moment later, with the conductor's approval, we boarded the train for Timber.

The Timber rail lines featured trains that loaded from the last car, and the passengers advanced towards the front. The closest cars to the boarding car were the first class cabins. Unsurprisingly, SeeD and Garden had their own private car for transit across the western continent, and this car was positioned directly in front of the boarding car. Of course, no civilians knew about the private car; only the train staff did, and anyone attempting to reserve that car was told that, unfortunately, that car was already reserved... which was technically true, after all.

"Wow!" Selphie said as she boarded. "This train is awesome!"

"A transcontinental railroad, baby!" Zell added as he boarded. "It even runs on an underwater tunnel to reach Timber! Pretty cool, huh?"

"It would be even cooler if the tunnel was made of extra reinforced glass so we could see the sea while travelling," I grumbled. I then blinked. 'That wasn't shown in the game. How do I know that?' I thought to myself. I then mentally shrugged. I would ask Sora about that later.

"By the way, you have to use the ticket to open the door. Extra security, you know," mentioned Zell. I nodded, and ran my ticket across a laser scanner located next to the door. With a cheery beep, the door slid open. Before I could move, however, Selphie burst past me, grinning like a kid in a candy store.

"I'm gonna go check out the front!" she declared, and ran down the hallway leading past the private SeeD cabin and towards the next car.

"Fine, as long as she doesn't derail the train," Zell muttered, following Squall and I into the hallway. He stopped in front of the door leading into the SeeD only cabin, which also happened to be the only cabin in this car.

"Check it out!" Zell said, opening the door. "So this is our private SeeD cabin..." Zell started to take a step through the door but stopped, taking a step back in surprise. "Whoa!" he shouted, stepping inside. "OHHH YEAHHH! AWESOME!"

Squall and I followed Zell into the plush and luxurious SeeD cabin. The martial artist, unsurprisingly, was literally bouncing up and down on a thick and huge couch along the back wall and curved to cover part of the left wall as well. The entire room was paneled with expensive looking wood, and featured two very comfortable looking bunk beds. A nearby wall terminal allowed for the occupants to call the dining car or for any other services the train staff could provide.

"Oh, man, this is so cool!" Zell said, still bouncing on the couch.

"I take it you like?" I smiled, amused. I removed my Zweihander sword from my back and sat down on the couch, only to realize that it was quite comfortable. I couldn't help it. I started bouncing alongside Zell. Squall just shook his head at us but had a very small smile on his face as he too sat down.

"This is awesome!" I grinned madly as I bounced. I then stopped as I caught sight of the several magazines on the coffee table in front of us. I sifted through them until I arrived at an issue of Weapons Monthly. "Cool," I murmured before I began to flip through the pages. There were several more weapons mentioned in the magazine than the four in the game. The magazine had 30 pages of all the different types of weapons. Aside from the Gunblade, Rifle, Whip and Gloves, there was also a Sniper Rifle, Katana, Sabre, Shotgun, Shruiken, Nodachi, Wakizashi, Grenade Launcher, Crossbow, Snake Sword, Bo Staff, Nunchaku, Rapier, Twin Swords and Daggers. There were even exotic weapons like large Chakram Blades and even a large Scythe. And then I spotted one that I was intimately familiar with. Twin Handguns. However they were different than my own. For one, they were simply cloudy silver in colour and there were no inscriptions on them.

"So, they can be upgraded after all," I mumbled softly.

"What?" asked Zell.

"Oh, just looking at this issue of Weapons Monthly," I said, holding up the magazine.

"Cool," he replied as he peered at the page. "Oh! They're your guns right?"

"Yeah," I said as I stood up, drew Oathkeeper and showed it to the brawler. He looked between it and the magazine picture. "They're different," he commented.

"Mine are custom designed to my liking," I replied. Zell nodded and handed the gun and magazine back. In turn I handed the magazine to Squall, who accepted it, and holstered the gun once again.

"So, I'm going to say what I know about Timber to make sure we all know what the area is going to be like, ok?" I asked. Squall and Zell nodded. "We can fill in Selphie later. The town's name is derived from the surrounding woods and due to the region's natural resources, Galbadia invaded the area 18 years ago. Under Galbadian occupation the woodland decreased dramatically from wood harvesting. Prior to its occupation, those in the resistance were hunted down, and many citizens were killed and imprisoned leading to the deep-seated hostility with the locals. Many of Timber's citizens have, or presently belong to, some resistance group, although most of these groups remain largely inactive due to the strong Galbadian hold.

The town has four train stations, but because of the Galbadian soldiers, travellers generally don't stay long. Due to the citizens' disobedience with the current government the town has never really prospered under Galbadian regiment.

For a long time, Timber's mass media reflected local political ideology, but then was heavily censored by the government. Timber used to have its own military troops while an independent nation, but following Galbadian occupation that body was dissolved and Galbadian soldiers serve as the peace-keeping force. In order to give its government a firmer presence, a few platoons of Galbadian soldiers are stationed in Timber." I sighed. "Does anyone have anything new to add?"

"I do," said Zell.

'Figures,' I thought to myself.

"The official reason Galbadia invaded was because they wanted to fortify the Horizon Bridge against Esthar. Course that was a load of BS and that the president was just on a land grab spree," he supplied.

The door into the cabin slid open, and the three of us looked up to see Selphie walking in, her eyelids drooping. She was walking slightly off- balance, as if terribly drowsy. Her posture immediately made me alert.

'Crap! I forgot about Ellone making us dream/experience the past through Laguna, Kiros and Ward. Will I be left out of this?' I wondered.

"You alright?" I asked casually.

"I'm not feeling well..." she said, her voice sounding tired.

"You should get some rest if you're tired," Squall advised, standing up. "We've got twelve hours until arrival."

"She probably burned a lot of energy driving us to the station," I mentioned.

"I'm... really sleepy," Selphie added, with a profound yawn. She began to sway back and forth, as if nodding off while standing. She stumbled forward, towards the couch.

"You okay?" Squall asked, slightly urgent in his tone as his fingers tightened around the Revolver's handle. He stepped across the room, looking for something out of the ordinary.

"You think this is unnatural Squall?" I asked.

"Maybe," he replied, only to snap his head around as Zell gave a loud yawn.

"Zell!" Squall shouted, snapping the martial artist's eyes open as Selphie lay down on the couch, immediately falling asleep.

"Hey!" Zell protested, shaking his head, even as his eyes began to droop. "Huh! What the..." Zell stood up quickly, looking around through half-closed eyes. "Something's wrong with me too... I... feel... sleep..." Zell yawned as he fell backwards, slumping on the couch and snoring before his body had even settled on the furniture.

"Crap!" muttered Squall before he too succumbed to Ellone's magic.

And then I felt it. An unnatural wave of drowsiness hit me like a bag of bricks. My head nodded forward, but since I knew exactly what was happening, I allowed the magic to run its course without any obstacles. But I had one last thought before I completely blacked out.

'Who's... the... fourth... guy...?'

* * *

(AN: Thanks for reading. Now be a sport and review.)

Update 31/12/2011: I rewrote the explanation on the connection between GF's and their Summoners in the beginning of the chapter.


	13. Chapter 13: The Fourth Guy

**Chapter 13: The Fourth Guy**

I slowly became aware that my feet were moving, although not of my own will. My gloved hands, not leather gloves but cloth, were pressed close to my body as I jogged. I could keenly felt the weight of metal armor, ammunition, grenades, and a pack full of supplies on his back. Sweat, from the heat and from my own sore muscles, poured down my brow, although I hadn't exerted myself enough to have those sore muscles.

Then sight came to me and I saw that I was running through a dense jungle, with muted sunlight filtering down through the leafy canopy overhead and smoke wafting above the woods, following a path that was barely more than a game trail. Distant sounds of explosions and gunfire could be heard. A war was raging in the distance. There was someone running in front of me. He wore a slightly less streamlined version of the Galbadian soldier uniform, as if it were a more earlier design than the current one. From what I could see of him, he had shoulder length black hair, bought 5'9", though it was hard to tell as he was running.

'I' ran my hand through my hair and from the feel of it, my hair was quite short and spiky. I then remembered what had happened moments before. I was on a train to Timber with Squall, Zell and Selphie. Then Ellone's magic sent us to sleep and then...

The man in front of me then stopped, brought up a heavy machine gun he was carrying and began to scan the surrounding area. As 'I' stopped behind him, almost bowling right into him, he looked a little more my direction and I saw his hair was combed over the right side of his face leaving only a thin lock to hang over his left side. And he had green eyes. This was...

"Oi Laguna! Don't put on the brakes so suddenly! I almost ran into you!" 'I' said. It sounded like an Australian accent.

"We've got more important questions to ask. Like 'Are we lost again?'" came a voice from behind me, and 'I' turned to see two others behind me. One was a wiry dark skinned man with long dreadlocks and clad in the blue uniform and armor of a Galbadian soldier. Unlike the traditional soldier, however, this man had no sword, instead carrying a pair of katals, short blades with grasping handles on the ends, designed to be wielded much like Seifer's Hyperion. This was Kiros. His voice also had a strong Sudanesse accent.

"Not again," sighed the second man, standing next to Kiros. He was a titanic man, heavyset and with more muscles than a human had any right to possess. The man was scarred across his face, and wore a huge blue rag tied around the top of his head. He too wore heavy Galbadian armor, although it must have been custom-fitted to his massive frame. A huge black metal harpoon rested in his hands, with a sharpened tip and a ring on its blunt end. This was Ward, and his voice had a slight American accent, or in this world, Galbadian.

"No, we're not lost!" Laguna replied, his Galbadian accent much stronger than Ward's.

"Give me a moment guys," 'I' said. "Need to splash some cool water on my face. It's too fucking hot to go running full tilt in armor in the middle of the day." 'I' walked over to a small stream and splashed myself with some water to cool off. I saw my reflection in the water and got a good look at the face of the guy I was inhabiting.

He had light tanned skin, as if he spent lots of time out in the sun without much clothes on. Steel blue eyes looked back at me and short brown hair cropped his face. His face was angular and it was clear that he was very fit, though not to the extent of Mr. Body Builder Ward. 'So this is the fourth man on the squad,' I thought to myself before mentally relaxing and began to watch the show.

* * *

"You all good Jack buddy?" Laguna asked, giving me the name of the man I was back-seating inside of.

"All good," Jack replied back.

"Laguna, I'm certain this isn't the right direction," Kiros said, looking around at the trail the four were running down.

"Kiros, it has to be the right trail! It's the only one in the whole bloody forest!" Laguna shot back.

"Yeah, so why's it taking us away from the battle?" Ward replied, balancing his heavy pack across his shoulders.

"Oh, come on Ward," Laguna said. "It's just a detour. I'm telling you, I've got this feeling this trail leads directly to the enemy lines!"

"Oh crap," Jack said, shaking his head.

"He's going by his gut," Ward added.

"It's code for 'we're lost'. Again," Kiros finished off.

"We are not lost!" Laguna protested. "Let's just follow this trail. One way or the other, it's going to lead us to civilization!"

"Whatever, man," Jack replied, not sounding totally convinced. The other two just nodded, and the four moved on down the trail. Soon, they passed through a field of tall grass. Fires burned throughout its length, and the destroyed remnants of several combat vehicles littered the field.

"Told you," Laguna said, pointing. "Those are Timber vehicles out there, meaning we must be close to where the fighting is! We'll be reunited with the army in no time!"

"Those vehicles look like they've been destroyed for a while . . ." Ward remarked, noting the lack of fires around the wreckages. "I think our forces already passed through here . . ."

"Well, if they did, they must have left a sentry or something around here," Laguna reasoned. "Who knows, maybe we'll find a forward command post or something!"

"Keep dreaming Laguna," muttered Jack.

"What was that Mr. Soule?" Laguna glared at him.

"Nothing!" called Jack; last name identified as Soule.

The distant sounds of gunfire faded off, but they found no sentry or command post after several hours of crawling through the forest on the other side of the meadow.

What they did find was a trail leading through the forest, doubling back on their old route. Soon, the sounds of distant combat rang louder.

"About time," Ward said. "We've gotta get back to the front."

"I dunno," Laguna said, shaking his head doubtfully. "I'm not so sure about this trail . . ."

"All the more reason to follow it," Kiros replied with a grin. Laguna reluctantly nodded his head, and led them down the trail, although with far less enthusiasm as he had when they'd been fleeing the battle.

Another hour passed, and they were definitely drawing closer to the front, but then, the trail abruptly ended.

"I guess we'll just have to make our way on rough ground," Laguna remarked, leading the four into the brush. Soon, leaves and branches were scratching up the four soldiers as the crunched through the foliage.

"Remind me again, why is this idiot leading our little group?" Jack asked as he hissed in pain when a particularly sharp branch swiped him across the cheek.

"Because we're Sergeants, and he's a Lieutenant," Kiros replied.

"So?" Jack jibed.

"Laguna, the battle's that way," Ward said, pointing to their right, where the sounds were coming from.

"Nah, the trees are playing with the noise. I'm sure it's this way," Laguna responded, not wavering from his course in the slightest. Jack, Kiros and Ward shot each other incredulous looks before reluctantly following their leader.

Another half hour passed, and the group drew no closer to the distant battle, despite Laguna's declarations that they were headed in the right direction. The four stopped in a clearing for a moment to rest.

"Laguna, we're not going in the right direction," Kiros stated bluntly as he sat down. "Are you even sure where we are?"

"I say we've been played by our 'fearless' leader by following him run away from the battle," grumbled Jack.

"C'mon Jack! Why would I want to do that for?" Laguna protested. Jack just glared at him, but it had no real feeling.

"I think..." Laguna reached into his pack and pulled out a map showing the Timber region. Unsurprisingly, it was mostly forests. Laguna looked over the map for a while, then shrugged. "We're somewhere around here," he said, using his finger to make a circle; and a wide one at that; around the western edge of the forest.

"I can't narrow it down any further," Laguna said, folding the map back up.

"You would be able to if we didn't trudge for 45 minutes through the middle of nowhere," said Jack.

"Well I'm no expert on Timber's geology," Laguna replied.

"Clearly," snorted Jack.

"And it's 'Geography'," Kiros corrected in a tone that suggested that this happened on a regular basis.

"Yeah, whatever," Laguna shot back, standing up. "I think if we head along the same path, we'll make it to the front."

"Oh, no you don't," Ward said, shaking his head in a definite negative. "Every time we've followed your paths it takes us miles further from the front." Ward pointed a massive finger in the direction of the distant explosions. "I'm positive that's where our unit is. We have to link back up."

Laguna let out a resigned sigh, and nodded.

"Alright, fine, we'll take your route," he agreed. "You guys don't trust my pathfinding skills anymore, do you?"

"No," all three replied to Laguna bluntly.

A sudden rustling in the brush around the clearing stopped the soldiers in their tracks. They looked around, scanning their surroundings, all the while clutching their weapons tightly. Jack drew two handguns and stood ready.

"There," Ward said, pointing with a nod of his forehead. The other three soldiers looked in that direction, to see a snake-like, grayish-brown skinned creature slithering through the brush.

"Geezard," Laguna commented, shaking his head. The creatures were little more than an annoyance to skilled fighters, unless they came in large numbers. "It's just a Geezard, nothing to worry about." At the tail end of Laguna's comment, more rustling erupted all around the soldiers. More slithering forms, a dozen or more, could be seen in the foliage surrounding the clearing.

"You were saying?" Kiros muttered, sliding into a combat stance, watching the pack of monsters surrounding them. His katals rose, ready for battle.

"Well, you said we weren't seeing any action," Laguna replied, sighting one of the monsters.

"Yeah, who needs big explosions when you can kick ass to forest animals," Jack grinned.

As if on cue to Laguna's remark, Geezards erupted from the woods around the small group, slithering across the grass. The monsters were small, only about four feet long, and featured a pair of stubby forelegs with a single claw on each, located near the head. Most of the monster was taken up by its tail, with only a small section of the creature's body containing what on a human would be its torso. A large head with white, milky eyes and a gaping maw completed the monster.

One of those faces dissappeared as Laguna dropped six bullets into it from his rifle. He shifted his aim, targeting a second Geezard behind and to the left of the first, and fired another pair of three-round bursts into its back. The monster spasmed and lay still.

Three surrounded Jack and jumped as one toward him, but he just calmly stepped to the side and blew the head off one while the other two collided in mid air and a split second later turned into sprays of blood and gore as they were shredded by a bullet each from Jack.

Another Geezard leaped up into the air at Kiros, attempting to bite the small man's neck. Kiros took offense at the notion, and stabbed forward with both his katals, hitting the monster side by side in its chest in midair. Kiros swept his katals apart in opposite directions, cutting the monster in two.

Ward set his harpoon against the leaping strike of another Geezard, and was rewarded by the tip of his iron weapon driving into the stupid monster's open mouth as it came in. Quickly shaking the monster off the end of his weapon, Ward jabbed the harpoon into the face of another Geezard slithering towards him, the point going right through its skull.

A third Geezard leaped at Ward, but was knocked aside by an accuracy shot to the head from one of Jack's guns. The monster writhed in pain on the ground until Ward stomped on its ugly face, finishing it.

More monsters boiled out at the group, and the four soldiers continued fighting. A pair advanced on Kiros, who deftly stabbed a katal down into its back, killing the monster. The nimble warrior then used that katal as a pivot, spinning around with his other katal slicing in. The second Geezard, rising up on its tail like a striking snake, took the arcing blade right at the base of its neck. Its head flew free.

Seven more Geezards formed up into a thick swarm and surged towards Laguna and Jack. As Jack was taking out Geezards left and right with only a single bullet for each one, Laguna flicked the selector switch on his rifle to full auto and held down the trigger. A wave of hot metal erupted forth from the gun, the stream of bullets pouring into the charging monstrous horde. Geezards screeched and died as the machinegun swept across their lines.

Ward spotted another Geezard approaching from Laguna's backside, and he launched his heavy harpoon one-handed. The iron spear crossed the distance in a heartbeat and blasted down into the Geezard's back, blowing a hole the size of a dinner plate in its body. Even as Ward saw this, he heard the rustling of grass right next to him over the clatter of machinegun fire, and looked down to see another Geezard practically right next to him. The monster grabbed onto Ward's boot with its claws and chomped its jaws upon the metal footwear.

Ward immediately shifted his weight to his other foot and stood up on that leg, shaking his grasped foot furiously. The Geezard held on stubbornly, however, and so Ward slammed his foot down into the ground. The force of the impact knocked the Geezard loose momentarily, and wasting no time, the big man stomped down on the monster's head, splatting it.

Kiros loosed a spinning slash that dropped a pair of Geezads leaping at him, and Laguna's gunfire finished the last of the small horde charging him. The four warriors surveyed the monstrous carnage around them, watching for any creatures that had decided they weren't dead after all.

However, the final threat came not from the ground, but from the edge of the woods. A final Geezard leaped out from the woods, diving for Jack's face. Jack saw the monster out the corner of his eye and spun to face it, handgun rising. He tapped the trigger once, loosing a single round that caught the monster in its face. The creature went into a backwards somersault, and Jack's subsequent shot hit it in the chest as it spun. A final bullet hit the monster in its back as it fell to the ground, ending the somersault riddled with three accurate bullet holes.

That monster's death marked the end of the Geezard pack.

"Well, that was fun," Jack stated, reloading his handguns.

"It was, wasn't it?" replied Laguna as he reloaded his own machinegun.

"Indeed. Not even a challenge," Kiros agreed, wiping his katals.

"Not very many Galbadian soldiers can say they got this many Geezards without breaking a sweat!" Laguna proclaimed, hefting his rifle. "Something to brag about back at home!"

"Laguna, don't do that," Jack shook his head. "That's low time bragging. You want something to brag about, how bout actually talking to Julia the next time we're in Deling City."

"S-shut up!" Laguna shot back, his face red. Kiros and Ward laughed as the soldier tried to compose himself.

"Well, I don't think even Galbadian Rangers can waste them as easily as we did," Laguna continued, ignoring the laughing. "Wasn't much of a workout, really."

"A workout?" Kiros said with a shake of his head and smile. "All you did was point and shoot. Not much exercise there."

"Excuse me!" Laguna said with mock indignation. He puffed out his chest and pointed to one of the dead Geezards. "What about that one? That was real prevention firing right there!"

Jack just burst out laughing. "It's 'precision' firing, dumbass!"

"Prevention, precision, whatever!" Laguna said in exasperation. "They're dead, and we didn't even get scratched."

"My boot got scratched . . ." Ward remarked, holding up his gore- splattered boot that the Geezard had grabbed.

"I don't think that counts as being scratched," Jack replied. "And between you and me, I'm way more accurate than you."

"Yeah, yeah," Laguna grumbled.

* * *

"Hey, Laguna," Ward asked during one of their breaks while advancing up a new trail they'd found an hour later. The group had stopped at a small stream to refill their canteens and had chosen to rest. For once, the group seemed much closer to the fighting now, although the sounds of battle were dying down.

"Aren't we here to fight a war?" the big man asked. "You know, against the almighty Timber army?"

"Yeah, " Kiros agreed, "so why are we wasting our time with these animals? We should be on the front lines, not wandering through the forest. We haven't seen any sign of Galbadian or Timber units in the last hour, and every trail you've led us down leads away from the fighting."

"Well, you see . . ." Laguna began, scratching the back of his head.

"Don't tell me we're lost again," Kiros said with a shake of his head. "I may be overestimating your cleverness, but you seem to be deliberately leading us away from the front."

"Its just that, uhhh . . ." Laguna began. He paused, and looked around as if looking for spies, then, he gestured for his comrades to come closer. As they leaned in, he whispered. "You really want to fight this war?"

"What?" Ward asked, surprised.

"Really? Do you?" Laguna asked. "Whose cause are we fighting for?"

"Fortifying the Horizon Bridge," Kiros said, as if it were obvious. "Timber's not doing their job, so we're doing it for them."

"When we can just blast it?" Laguna replied, shaking his head. "You know that's what Timber was planning to do the whole time if Esthar attacked? Blow the bridge. Dollet's navy has got 'em beat on the seas, so the only way they can cross is the Bridge. Timber's got it wired with explosives."

"How do you know?" Jack asked.

"Power of the press, Jack," Laguna replied with a grin. "The truth can't be kept quiet, not even with Vinzer Deling in charge. The word gets around. Timber's got the Bridge covered, and Deling knows its covered. That means we've got no reason to be here, so why are we here in the first place?"

"You think it's a power grab?" Ward questioned, thinking about it.

"Only explanation," Laguna said. "Deling's just trying to take the whole damn continent, and we're helping him. I'm not some goon for a power mad dictator! We joined to save Galbadia from its foes, and all we're doing is helping Deling's world domination schemes!"

"Dang, my man," Kiros said, shaking his head and nodding. "You've got a point. That's why you've been avoiding the front?"

"Yeah, well, with my record, this won't seem strange to the commanders for me to get lost," Laguna said with a chuckle.

"You planning on deserting?" Jack asked seriously.

"Desertion? No way!" Laguna said, shaking his head. "We'd get shot if we were caught! But I dunno . . ." Laguna looked off into the treetops. "I really want to quit after this war's over. Maybe get a real job in the newspapers, tell 'em about my time in the war and where I've been. Yeah! That's it! As soon as things quiet down, I'm outta this army!" He looked back at his comrades. "What about you guys? Interested in seeing the long world?"

"You mean, 'wide world?'" Ward asked with a chuckle. "I'm not sure. I don't think I'm up for travel, but then again, I don't like settling down, either." The big man slapped Laguna across the shoulder. "I've got too much of you in me!"

"What about you, Kiros?" Laguna asked. "You wanna come with me after we get outta here?"

"Why not?" Kiros replied with a chuckle. "Someone's gotta keep you from making a fool of yourself."

"And you Jack?"

"The one thing I've loved about being in the army is being able to travel all around the world. I ain't about to quit now. I'm with you," Jack smiled and clapped Laguna on the shoulder.

"Alright then!" Laguna said with a grin. "We can just wait here for a bit, let the fighting die down, and then head back for the front and make a report on getting lost. Knowing Colonel Derlin, he'll toss it out without even reading it."

"Especially since he wouldn't even think you'd have gotten us lost on purpose," Kiros added, and all four men chuckled.

"We're going home," Laguna told his buddies. "Deling City, here we come!"

* * *

'Well, this is certainly an interesting experience,' I thought as Laguna, Jack, Kiros and Ward walked into a Galbadian base camp on the front lines, most likely to give in their report. 'Jack Soule sounds a lot like myself. He's a nice guy.' I briefly wondered how Squall, Zell and Selphie were doing.

'Ahh, they'll be fine,' I finished up before a sudden wave of dizziness swept over me and I blacked out.

I opened my eyes to see myself sitting on the couch in the SeeD cabin, heading to Timber. 'What? Did I lose the connection or something? What are you taking about Josh, it's not like hooking up to Wi-Fi, dumbass,' I thought before I again felt the now familiar drowsiness and drifted off to sleep. When I became aware of my surroundings again, we were driving along a stretch of desert.

'Ok, what did I miss?'

* * *

"How long 'till home?" Laguna asked, turning away from the small window and looking back at Ward, who was driving.

"Couple of hours," Ward replied.

"We would have been there yesterday but you got us turned around," Kiros added with a chuckle from a seat behind his comrades.

"Again," Ward commented. "You're worse with directions in a car than you are on foot."

"Aw, shut up," Laguna said, looking away. "At least you guys got to see the missile base under construction out there."

"True," Jack said with a shrug and grin. "The missile base on the other side of the desert." He was seated in the back with Kiros.

"Come on, man, give me a break," Laguna complained. He gestured out to the flat, brown, featureless terrain out the window. It was part of the vast desert in Galbadia's southwestern region, a dry, barren, empty place. The region had long ago been lush and full of life and teeming with lakes and rivers, but the water had left one day without leaving a forwarding address, and now the only inhabitants were desert animals and monsters.

"How can you not get lost out here?" Laguna sked. "The closest thing we've got to roads out here are dirt tracks."

"Well, what do you expect when there's no one out here?" Kiros replied. "It's a monster-infested desert. I'm amazed we still haven't seen anything over the last few days we've spent wandering around."

As they were talking, Ward steered the armored vehicle over a hill along the track road, and as the vehicle crested the rise, one could see blueish-green grasses many miles to the north. Those plants were the first heralds of the Great Plains of Galbadia, which stretched south and east of the heavily populated northlands of Galbadia, and served as Galbadia's "bread basket."

"About time we got out the place water forgot," Ward commented as the armored vehicle descended the hill. Oddly, this hill was strewn with almost a dozen small boulders, colored the same yellowish brown as the sands and dirt of the vast desert the Galbadians were leaving behind.

"That's weird," Laguna said, nodding towards the large rocks, all roughly around the same size and shape. "You don't usually see rocks like that in the desert. I wonder how they got here."

Kiros and Jack leaned forward between Ward and Laguna, squinting at the boulders.

"As much as I hate to admit it, man," Kiros said. "You've got a point. Those rocks are funny-looking."

"Sure are..." added Jack.

By now, Ward had driven the vehicle halfway down the hill, and the closest of the strange rocks was only about a hundred feet away. Ward, too, was a bit worried about those unusual stones, and had slowed down as they approached. At this close range, all four soldiers could see odd green markings across the rocks.

"What in Hyne's name?" Laguna asked, scratching his head. "I ain't ever seen stones like that before."

Kiros stroked his chin thoughtfully, while Ward continued slowing down, obviously hesitant to get any closer.

"You know," Jack said, "I've got a bad feeling about this. Haven't you guys heard some of the rumors about the monsters in this desert?"

"Yeah," Kiros agreed. "You don't think . . ."

"I do," Jack replied. "Ward, I think we need to get the hell outta here. Now!" Ward nodded, bringing the vehicle to a stop about twenty feet from the nearest stone. He reached for the gear shift, about to throw the vehicle into reverse-

-and one of the many yellow and green rocks exploded to life, standing up and unfolding itself. The monster, and that was indeed what they were, had rolled up into a roughly boulder-like shape and hidden its burly arms and legs underneath its bulk, effectively disguising itself. Now the monster stood, and charged at the vehicle, running on all fours like a gorilla. Behind it, more boulders rose to the attack as well.

Now that they could see the monster, all four soldiers within the armored vehicle realized what these monsters were. They were Wendigos, huge and powerful monsters of the Galbadian deserts. Wendigos were roughly humanoid, and built like body-builders, with muscles upon muscles. Unlike humans, though, Wedigos oddly enough had no heads. Where the head should have been there was . . . nothing, giving the hunched over, six-foot tall monsters a disconcerting appearance. They preffered physical attacks with their fists, and had little use for tactics beyond "charge in and smash."

"SHIT!" yelled out Jack.

"Back up!" Laguna shouted, scrabbling for his machinegun. "Back up!"

Ward did just that, throwing his vehicle in reverse even as the initial Wendigo closed. As the Galbadian vehicle began backing up, the monster slammed headlong onto the armored car, almost knocking it over. The Wendigo closed one hand around one of the topside lights and, perched on the front of the vehicle and dominating the front view, began slamming away on the car's top. In spite of the armored plating around the vehicle, the monster's smashing fist began to dent the roof inward.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" cursed Jack as he drew his guns.

"Get us outta here!" Kiros shouted, and Ward began to back away quickly. Thinking fast, and showcasing driving skills he didn't know he had, Ward spun the vehicle to the right hard, and the Wendigo suddenly found its feet no longer on the front of the vehicle due to centifugal force. Ward continued the sharp backing spin, and suddenly the Wedigo was gone, the light it was grasping torn free by the monster's tremendous weight.

Ward had turned around to a one-hundred and eighty degree angle to the charging Wedigo pack that had been following the initial charge, so the monsters were coming at the four and their vehicle from directly behind. This didn't occur to Laguna and his comrades until the Wedigos actually slammed into the backside of the armored car, and began pounding away on it.

"Drive!" Laguna said to Ward. "Drive!" Ward began to do just that, turning the gear shift so they could pull out, but then the soldiers heard a screeching sound, one of metal scraping against metal, and Kiros and Laguna looked back to see a Wedigo using its incredible strength to pry the rear hatch off. The door was already halfway gone, and a second Wedigo was trying to fit its girth in the portal. One of its muscular arms reached in, huge fingers grasping.

Kiros's katals severed those fingers, then gashed the hand and arm as they ran up the monster's limb, striking in rapid succession. Jack finished the attack with a quick blast into the monster's face. The Wendigo fell away, dead.

Even as that monster fell away, a second rose to fill its place, shooting a fist through the gap as the Wendigo forcing to door open worked the opening somewhat wider. The fist struck Kiros right in his chest and staggered him, but to everyone's surprise (none more than Kiros himself!) the lithe soldier came right back, his katals crossing over the monster's hand like the jaws of a wolf, severing the hand clean off. The monster howled somehow, but continued trying to get inside the vehicle. It clubbed Kiros with its stump of an arm, knocking him backwards, and as the Wendigo grasping the door forced it further open, it came all the way into the vehicle, its bulk filling the back.

Of course, that made it difficult for Jack to miss. A stream of hot metal tore into the monster's chest as Jack poured gunfire from Laguna's borrowed machinegun into the Wendigo from next to Kiros. He'd been unable to help his friend a moment before, because the small man was right in his field of fire.

The bullets tore into the monster's hide, and the force behind the sheer number of rounds pushed the beast practically right out the door.

One of the Wendigos outside finished taking the dying monster out of the portal, grabbing it by its intact arm and pulling is dead bretheren out of the way.

"Ward, get us outta here!" Jack shouted, firing upon the new threat that loomed into view. He held down the trigger, and bullet ripped into monstrous flesh, but this Wendigo ignored the hail of fire as it came in. The machinegun ceased its stream of bullets and began clicking, and Jack frantically moved to reload. The Wendigo, hurt but still standing, finished working its way inside the vehicle and wound up for a mighty punch. But then Kiros interposed himself between his friend and the monster, convincing it to halt its attack with an argument of katal slashes and thrusts. The monster fell back, and like its comrade before, it was yanked out of the way by more Wendigos outside.

Those Wendigos were suddenly distant as the Galbadian vehicle took off, Ward driving away at full speed. Laguna was about to ask why Ward had waited so long to leave, but then realized that time during the battle had dialated, making the fight seem far longer than it actually was.

"We're losing 'em," Kiros reported, looking out the back hatch at the pursuing but rapidly diminishing Wendigos.

And as if on cue, something slammed, and slammed hard, into the rear left side of the Galbadian vehicle, spinning it around so the car was pointing at an angle perpendicular to its original route. Laguna looked out the window to see a Wendigo, likely the same on that had leaped onto the vehicle in the first place, holding onto the side of the car. Before Ward could throw the car back into full speed, that same Wendigo let go of the vehicle's side and ran around back.

"It's coming in through the rear!" Laguna warned, but as Kiros spun around to face the incoming enemy, the Wendigo's arm shot through the open rear hatch and grabbed the soldier. Then, with almost casual ease, the Wendigo spun, and Kiros went flying out the back hatch and into the throng of oncoming monsters, rapidly gaining on them.

"Kiros!" both Laguna, Jack and Ward shouted, and the three soldiers, heedless of their own safety, scrambled to help their comrade. Jack was first out of the car from the back, instantly laying down suppressing fire with his handguns into the oncoming army of monsters while Laguna began blasting his regained machinegun at point blank range into the Wendigo that had stopped them and grabbed Kiros. The monster stumbled back, and if it made any noise, it couldn't be heard under the pounding blasts of Laguna's gun.

Ward, having to get out of his seat, was a moment behind Laguna and Jack, beginning his charge out of the car with a hurled harpoon. The metal spear blasted right through one Wendigo as it approached Kiros's prone form, and then it continued on to bury in the chest of a second. Ward paused for an instant, surprised by the power behind his throw. He was a buff man, but he wasn't that buff . . . .

Kiros, having been bought a momentary second of respite by Ward, rose up, his katals slicing rapidly and precisely at the reaching hand of another of the yellow and green-skinned monsters that sported several wounds thanks to Jack. That hand fell, severed from its arm. Before the Wendigo could really comprehend what had happened, the katals dug deep lines across that monster's chest.

The monster Laguna was shooting wasn't dead yet, or at least, it didn't know it was, so it still stood despite its chest being torn to shreds by hot steel. Laguna quickly kicked the monster in its chest, hurling its body several feet backward, and firing another burst into the dying monster to ensure it would stay that way. It didn't occur to the soldier that he didn't normally have enough strength to knock that huge of a monster that far back with a single kick, since Laguna had already switched into combat mode. The enemy was down, that was all that mattered right now.

The Wendigos, realizing the rest of their prey had come out to fight as well, began to split up, many breaking away from Jack's assault to go after Laguna, Kiros and Ward. As the group broke up, Jack could tell how many foes there were. There were 12 of the monsters, it seemed. Three were still attacking himself, and three more went after Ward, seeing him unarmed. Four broke off to get at Kiros. The last two went for Laguna.

Jack quickly began to accurately shoot his three adversaries in the heads to knock them down quickly, but it wasn't meant to be as only one was downed while the remaining two dodged around them. Jack jumped back to put some distance between them before shooting again. However one got close and came in with a very heavy punch that would of blasted Jack into meaty chunks if the punch connected. Instead, having reflexes he never knew he had, Jack jumped upside down, came down on the punching arm and pushed off it again, flying high into the air. He then pelted the attacker in the head and the second Wendigo was dropped. He landed easily and began to stare down the third and final monster.

Kiros spun and sliced as those Wendigos surrounding him came in. After a few fingers and a hand were lost, the monsters backed away, forming a circle around the agile and dangerous fighter. One of the monsters suddenly sped forward, diving at Kiros, The lithe soldier spun to meet the monster, and raised his katals as if he was going to meet the charge head on. At the last second, however, Kiros spun to the side, and the Wendigo's momentum carried it past. Kiros's blades found targets in the passing monster as he spun back around, slicing cleanly into its leg and side. The monster rose quickly and stumbled away, hurting badly.

The monsters charging Laguna met sweeping blasts of automatic fire, but Laguna didn't concentrate his fire on any one monster, so the bullets did not down either attacker. Both monsters closed in, their fists swinging. Laguna ducked under on blow, only to have it strike the metal of the armored vehicle behind him, leaving another dent in the battered car's body.

Laguna had to step aside as a fist jabbed at him, from the other Wendigo. He didn't get completely out of the way, and the blow sent him spinning, right back through the hatch and into the back section of the Galbadian vehicle. The monster that had hit him was right behind Laguna, scrambling through the open hatchway and cocking its fist back for another mighty punch.

Laguna, lying on his back, quickly curled up, bringing his legs up before him, with his knees over his chest. Even as the Wendigo came in, Laguna kicked out, striking the monster in its chest as. The Wendigo was hurled back, right out the hatch, and was stitched with gunfire before it hit the ground. The monster did not get back up. The second Wendigo also charged into the vehicle after Laguna, but this time, Laguna was ready for it, and before it had even scrambled halfway through the hatch, his gunfire had literally stopped it dead.

Ward found himself engaging three Wedigos, unarmed. Not a good situation, even for someone as tough as him. But as the first Wendgo came in, with the other two circling around, Ward recalled how he'd downed two of the monsters with a single throw of the harpoon.

The monster directly in front of Ward threw a powerful hook at him, but the man's hands came up and blocked the monster's blow cold, to the surprise of the monster, but not to the human. Somehow, Ward realized, he was far stronger than he should have been. Far, far stronger.

Taking advantage of that new strength, Ward's hands closed over the monster's extended fist, and he spun, yanking the arm hard. The monster's feet left the ground, and it spun around in midair as Ward turned. He released the monster's fist as he came round, hurling the creature into one of the Wendigos encircling him. Both went down, hard.

Then Ward found himself ensnared in a bear hug as the third Wendigo slipped up behind him and wrapped its arms around the soldier, pinning his arms to his side.

The four intact Wendigos circled around Kiros, and then all came at him at once. The small man spun around like a top, his blades extending and slashing, rising and falling like the edges of a screw. The monsters, expecting to bury the tiny man under the sheer weight of their bodies, found themselves being sliced open by Kiros's spinning blades. One creature fell back, both its hands gone. A second featured a long, deadly cut across its chest, having pierced its heart. That one could not hold its footing and fell down, dead. The third was not so badly off, having taken only a half-dozen minor hits, and it came in at Kiros anew, punching hard.

Kiros hopped back out of the monster's way and then came right back in, both katals diving for the monster's chest. The twin blades cut in, and then Kiros snapped the blades out, tearing the monster's chest open. Even as the monster began to retreat backwads, Kiros came right in after it, both katals slashing upwards and cutting twin lines across the Wendigo's chest. The monster dropped.

Back with Jack, the final Wendigo after him charged toward him. Jack decided a different strategy was required for this one. As the Wendigo came charging in, Jack rolled to the side and blasted the monster's side with bullets. Then he jumped and flipped over the monster as it turned around to strike again. Now completely upside down and facing the Wendigo, Jack unleashed several bullets that tore through the top of the chest area where it's head was, killing it.

At the same time, Ward, taking offense at the Wendigo's grapple, flexed his arm muscles and broke free of the bear hug. He took a quick step forward, and then spun around, cocking a fist. The subsequent punch seemed to have come all the way from Deling City itself, slamming the Wendigo in its chest and huling it nearly fifteen feet away. Ward spent a second gaping at the feat.

"Hot damn," he whispered, awed by his newfound power. But then he saw the two other Wendigos untangling themselves, and he dove for his harpoon. Ward qiuckly extracated the metal spear from the dead monster's chest it had been imbedded in, then spun around even as the first Wendigo of the pair closed in, hands raised to slam Ward into the ground.

Ward's harpoon speared it in the chest, hurling it back to the dirt.

The last Wendigo was still coming, and passed its dead companion, cutting Ward off from his weapon. Ward, not to be deterred, set himself to stop the powerful monster's charge. The monster came in, eager to bowl Ward under and pound him into meat.

And just as they were about to connect, the monster suddenly began to stumble, its faltering accompanied by the pounding gunfire from Laguna's machinegun and Jack's twin handguns. Laguna was standing at the hatch of their car, firing away into the monster's back, while Jack blasted away into the left side.

Even as the Wendigo stumbled forward, Ward took the initiative and stepped forward into the monster's stumbling charge. He slammed his shoulder into the monster's chest and straightened, and the Wendigo flew up and over Ward's back, to slam into the dirt ten feet behind him. The monster began to rise, until a pair of katals, guided by Kiros's hands, dove into its back, finishing the monster.

Even as that monster went down, the four soldiers scanned the nearby area, alert for any more incoming Wendigos.

But the monsters had had enough. Those that could still flee were doing so now, scrambling away from the four mighty humans and their dead and torn bretheren. All four men let out tired sighs, and turned back to the vehicle.

"'Deling City, here we come?'" Jack echoed sarcastically.

* * *

[AN: Review up please. Let me know what you think of Jack Soule.]


	14. Chapter 14: Night on the Town

**Chapter 14: Night on the Town**

I had heard that Deling City went by a second name, proudly spoken by its inhabitants: The Shining Night. The view as Laguna drove the armoured car through the checkpoint at the main road into the capital of Galbadia did justice to that name.

The whole city was alight, with almost every building, store, shop, business, and home still lit despite the late hour. Cars and trucks of various makes filled the roads, and spotlights shone into the sky as well. People roamed the streets, and if it weren't for the darkened sky above, a visitor would have thought it was daytime. Deling City thrived on night time as much as any other city did in the daylight.

'Kinda like Las Vegas,' I thought as I remembered the one and only visit to the entertainment capital of the world. The first time I saw it at night, I was blown away at the contrast between the bright lights and the black night. Deling City wasn't as impressive as Vegas, but it certainly came in at a close second.

Laguna manuvered the car through the entrance to the city, driving it along one of the outer main avenues that encircled the city like a wheel. The car continued through the streets, passing civilians and soldiers, many either standing guard in the streets, patrolling, or walking around casually, probably on leave.

Soon, Laguna brought the car to a stop in front of the Galbadian military and political headquarters, the Presidential Palace. It was here that the hub of all Galbadian command was located, a place that had seen political manuverings and power plays since its erection as the castle of the first king of Galbadia, centuries ago.

Right now, an entire battalion of soldiers seemed to be on guard inside and around the Palace. Squads of men patrolled, all heavily armed and armoured, and one could see troops in the red garb and bulky armour of Galbadian officers strutting about, barking orders. Here and there, moving with discipline and purpose far greater than that of the blue-clad regulars, were green clad troopers, Galbadian special forces units.

"Man, they've got the place locked down tighter than a virgin's pussy," Jack commented crudely as they drove past the Palace.

"Not how I would voice it, but yeah," Laguna agreed, and then brought the car to a stop. Jack, Kiros and Ward looked over at him even as Laguna switched the car into parked mode and turned the engine off.

"Hey!" Ward protested, looking out the window. As far as he could tell, they were still in the road. "You can't park in the middle of the street!"

"Relax," Laguna replied, undoing his belt and getting up. "We're soldiers; it's cool. Besides," Laguna added as he exited the car, "We can have one of these guys take care of it." Laguna gestured to a squad of Galbadian soldiers patrolling the sidewalk.

"Hey!" he called to the soldiers, catching their attention.

"Sir!" the leader of the small group replied, snapping off a salute.

"Move this out of the road for us, would you?" Laguna said, then gestured to the car.

"Of course, sir!" the trooper replied.

"Alright then," Laguna said to Jack, Kiros and Ward as he led them down the street and the soldiers moved to take care of the vehicle. "How's about a drink?"

"We're not here just for booze, are we?" Kiros asked. "We've got a war to fight after all, and I don't think we'll be good fighters if we get wasted."

"I dunno. It could be fun," Jack grinned.

"Yeah, we'll get smashed," Ward replied, a jovial look on his face, "and then we'll CHAAARGE!" That brought out laughter from the other three soldiers. After the laughing died down, Laguna shook his head at his friends.

"Kiros, Ward, Jack, you guys seem to misunderstand," Laguna explained. "I just want to have a friendly drink with you two."

"Suuurrreee you are," Jack grinned slyly at his friend. "We already know you're not in it for the drinking. Just admit it already."

"Yeah," Ward added. "Just drink some juice like a weenie, and then gawk at the piano lady." Laguna turned around, arms crossed and with an annoyed look on his face.

"Don't call her 'the piano lady'!" he shouted angrily. He then spun around, shaking his head, and started to walk off. "That's it! Forget it! I'm not going!" As Laguna headed off, all three of his comrades shared a laugh.

" Suuurrreee you won't..." Jack called after him, and they walked after their departing friend.

* * *

The Galbadia Hotel, world famous for its excellent rooms, low prices, and exceptionally well stocked bar, was Laguna's destination. The four soldiers walked in, and nodded familiarly at the attendant behind the desk, who acknowledged them with an equally familiar smile.

"Ah, gentlemen, it is good to see you tonight," the attendant said. "You came at a good time, many of the soldiers who frequent the establishment are out and about. I trust your deployment was uneventful?"

"Not exactly," Jack replied with a chuckle.

"Combat?" the attendant asked.

"Nah," replied Laguna. "Just some ugly critter action. Nothing major. It's good to be back, though!" With that, he, Jack, Kiros and Ward headed down the stairs leading to the hotel's basement, where the bar was located. They descended into a comfortably subdued lighting.

The hotel's bar was beautifully appointed, featuring many plush booths and tables, complete with rich leather upholstery, and also a grand piano located on a stage next to the stairs. A number of soldiers were scattered about, wearing their blue and red uniforms, although only a few men were wearing their armour. Sidearms were present on many of the men, but only one soldier was fully armed, a single red-clad officer with the insignia of a military policeman. Jack spotted several soldiers at the bar, wearing green uniforms and their standard armour. They all had an insignia on their upper arms, of a flaming arrow knocked on a black bow: the insignia of the Galbadian Army Rangers, the cream of the crop in Galbadian special forces. A few waitresses moved about, serving drinks to the scattered groups of soldiers or individual troopers drinking alone. One waitress, familiar to Jack and his comrades, approached.

"Welcome, gentlemen!" she greeted with a smile. "If you want it, your usual table is ready."

Jack nodded, but as he was about to reply, he heard a buzzing in his head, and the sound of what he thought to be a voice, seeming to be happy. He shook his head in confusion as the voice in the back of his head quieted.

"What?" Jack asked as the voice vanished. He blinked his eyes a few times and shook his head again.

"What's wrong?" Kiros asked, sounding concerned. Jack turned to face him, and shrugged. he didn't know either.

"I... I'm not sure," he replied. Then, he heard it again, that happy voice. He didn't understand what it was, it was like rogue thoughts running through his mind, but he couldn't pin them down. "Huh?" Jack said in renewed confusion, shaking his head.

"What is it?" Kiros asked again.

"I don't know," Jack replied, shrugging as the voice vanished again.

"Wait a minute," Laguna interjected a look of confused understanding on his face. "Is your head buzzing too?"

"You too?" Jack asked. Laguna nodded.

"Yeah, me too. Ever since Timber," Ward also added. "There's been a buzzing in my head..."

"Same here," Kiros added immediately.

"Then what . . . ?" Laguna asked, scratching the back of his head in confusion.

"Hey, we're just tired," Ward said with a shrug. "We'll be alright after a drink or two, or three . . . ."

* * *

I was happy that he could hear my calling to him, telling him to go all out drinking. Of course I knew it was possible from playing the game, but I also knew that he wouldn't hear anything over a buzzing noise; like listening to a voice call over mobile with bad reception.

I sighed. "I guess I really am just along for the ride. From the looks of things, this Deling City seems to be some odd 20 years ago. Soldiers everywhere." I smiled as Jack and his buddies made their way across the bar to a booth, obviously their regular table. Like all the others, it featured plush seats and a single, glowing lamp in the centre of the table, which was wrought of fine wood.

"At ease, men," Laguna joked as they settled into the plush blue chairs. "We're going all out tonight, right boys?" Laguna asked his comrades, to assenting nods and grins.

"Hell yeah," Ward said, pounding the table. "I need a drink after all we've been through!" Kiros and Laguna chuckled, and Jack called over the waitress that had seated them.

"The usual!" he told her. "Mimmett beer!"

"Me too," Kiros agreed.

"And keep 'em coming too!" Ward added. The waitress nodded at their order and headed off to the bar to fetch the drinks. She soon returned, and the trio of solders wasted no time hitting the beer.

Ward downed four glasses in twice that many minutes, while Kiros and Jack went after their own much more slowly. Laguna, however, only took a few sips of his, and by the time the waitress had returned to refill Kiros, Jack and Ward's glasses, his was only half empty.

Jack leaned over to Ward as the big man gulped down half his glass in a single swallow, and motioned towards their comrade. Ward chuckled, unsurprised. Kiros had noticed as well. Laguna was taking another sip of his beer at that moment, but had his attention focused on the far side of the bar, watching the steps leading down from the lobby.

"So, Laguna," Kiros said conversationally, "Julia should be making her appearance pretty soon."

Those words, particularly "Julia," jolted Laguna, and he turned back to face Kiros. The soldier shrugged, his face warming.

"Piano lady . . . ." Ward said quietly, jokingly, just loud enough for Laguna to hear him. Kiros obligingly ducked as Laguna leaned over his back and smacked the huge soldier across his head. "Ow, man," Ward whispered, rubbing his head. "That smarted."

"She's not the piano lady, you dolt!" Laguna hissed. "Her name's Julia!"

"Oh, speaking of the piano lady," Jack grinned, drawing Laguna's wrathful glare, "here she comes now."

All intents towards hurting his comrades faded as Laguna turned around to see a woman descending the stairs. She was tall, slender, and elegant, with shimmering black hair and a beautiful dark red dress. She smiled and nodded at several of the soldiers who greeted her warmly, and made her way to the grand piano.

'Wowzers! She really is hot! So that's what Rinoa's mum looks like. The General's a lucky guy. Pity their marriage doesn't really work out,' I thought.

"You going for it tonight?" Ward asked Laguna, who was watching Julia Heartilly intently as she began play a lovely tune on the piano.

"Yeah, go for it!" Kiros encouraged, tapped in Laguan on his shoulder.

"What-ever man!" Laguna replied, shaking his head nervously. "Can't you see she's working!"

"Jeez, you're such a pussy," Jack sighed. "Go wave to her at least."

"Give me a break," Laguna replied. "I can't right now."

"So you say," boomed Ward while downing another glass of beer. "But we know you'll do it."

"And if you don't, I'm sure one of those upstanding Rangers will do it instead," Kiros added.

"Fine, fine," Laguna muttered, standing up. He took a couple of breaths, closed his eyes for a second, and drew in one last steadying breath. Then the soldier began to make his way across the room to the stage, where Julia was still playing her song.

As soon as Laguna had turned around, Jack was out of his seat and talking to the other soldiers, especially the Rangers.

"You up to making a bet gentlemen?" he asked them.

"On what?" a Ranger asked.

"On whether my friend will actually talk to Julia tonight of course!" whispered the soldier. "I bet that he'll talk to her, and she'll talk back in a non-disgusted way."

"Yeah right! I'll take that bet. I say he'll chicken out," one soldier said.

"I say he trips!"

"I say, if he talks, she'll ignore him outright!"

"The same for me, but she'll be disgusted with him!"

All the betting soldiers held their money in their hands, waiting to see what would happen. Jack also watched Laguna and waited.

'Well I know what happens in the game. No-one says anything. So let's see what really happens,' I thought, eager to see this bit of info.

What happened was surprising. Laguna actually got to standing behind the piano, looking at Julia and spoke to him. And she spoke back, in a non-disgusted way. In fact, she smiled warmly at him a few times. What was said couldn't be heard as they talked softly and the piano drowned out their whispers. It seemed that Jack knew this was going to happen. Hearing his thoughts, he said that he had observed the fleeting interactions between the 'piano lady' and Laguna. He would look at her and when he turned away for a small sip, she looked at him, and Jack knew that she had a thing for the soldier. And with that thought, he watched Laguna limp away, back to their table.

"Well thank you gents, it seems that I'm the lucky winner in this little venture," Jack smiled as he collected all the money from the betters and walked back to the table.

"So how much did you make?" Laguna glared at Jack.

"Don't look at me like that. I was confident that you were going to do it this time. So why shouldn't I make a little something on the side from your bravery?" Jack replied.

"Whatever man," he grumbled.

"So? How much did you get?" Kiros asked.

"Bout 10,000 gil," Jack grinned.

"Wow! That's an impressive haul! Guess everyone thought Laguna wasn't going to make it," Ward replied.

"Their loss. Who says you can't make money off love," said Jack before he pealed a few thousand gil notes from the main wad and passed it to Laguna. "Here you go man. You earned it for being so brave tonight." Laguna looked between the money and Jack before smiling and picking up the money.

"What? Where's our cut?" Ward whined.

"What did you do to earn a cut?" Jack asked.

"We're your pals."

"Not good enough."

Laguna and Kiros laughed as Ward slumped into the chair.

Jack pocketed the rest and looked up, past Laguna, and his eyes widened, as Julia was standing right behind Laguna. He elbowed Kiros, who looked up and saw Julia, who then elbowed Ward.

"We're gonna split for the moment," Jack said as the three men stood up. Laguna was quick to follow, surprised by his friends' sudden departure.

"H-Hey! What's the rush?" he demanded. In response, Jack turned around, a big smile on his face.

"It's on us tonight," he said, patting Laguna on the shoulder. "Relax and stay a while, Laguna." Without any further explanation, Jack followed ward and Kiros over to the bar. As soon as he got there he turned in his seat and watched the spectacle. After a few minutes of conversation between the two, Laguna exclaimed "In your room?" a little too loudly.

"Wow! He's gonna score big tonight!" Jack's eyes widened. After a few more moments, Julia left, leaving Laguna standing there, dumbstruck.

"I gotta get me a girl sometime soon," Jack sighed.

"Your time will come," Kiros said sagely.

"That time better not be when I'm old and rotting away," Jack grumbled. He brightened up when Laguna came over.

"Go for the goal, and don't yakity-yak-yak-yak on and on about random shit! Ask her questions and really listen to her answers. Women love it when men listen to what they're saying," Jack called to him. Some soldiers nodded sagely at this. Laguna smiled nervously before he walked out of the bar area.

"You know it's useless to tell him to not yak on," Ward said.

"I know but I'm hoping he'll at least take my advice about the second bit," Jack replied before standing up and turning to the Rangers. "Ok everyone! Who wants a chance to win their money back?"

* * *

Laguna had departed for Julia's room about a half hour ago when Jack, Kiros and Ward were approached by another soldier, a young enlisted man who hadn't even reached the rank of private yet.

"Excuse me, Corporal Soule, Corporal Seagill, Corporal Zaback?"

"That would be us," Kiros replied to the kid.

"General Caraway has new orders for your unit," the soldier said. "He wants to meet you at the Palace."

"Alrighty," Ward replied. "What about Lieutenant Loire?"

"The men who told me you were here said the Lieutenant had found some companionship for the evening. A fine catch, they called her."

"Ah goodie, looks like we've got some pavement to be introducing to some of our fellow soldiers' faces," Jack responded, grinning evilly.

"Yup," Ward replied, plopping a thick wad of gil on the counter to pay for their drinks. "You guys hold onto my bet for me, would ya?" he said to the Rangers. "I will collect my winnings after we squelch the rumors and get our orders." There were some chuckles and a few toasts among the soldiers, and then Jack, Ward and Kiros headed upstairs and outside the hotel.

Immediately, the three troopers were assaulted by the audible barrage of honking horns and shouting drivers. The source of the noise was immediately apparent in the traffic jam that clogged the streets directly in front of the hotel.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Ward said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I'll bet gil to dimes that our car started this," Kiros added.

"That's one bet I ain't taking," Jack said as they made their way to the Palace.

Soon enough, they arrived at the Palace, and it turned out that Laguna's bad parking habits had indeed resulted in the jam. In the middle of the road, surrounded by dozens of stopped cars, was Laguna's armoured car.

"What happened?" Ward asked a nearby blue-clad soldier. "I thought that car was supposed to be moved?"

"Well, it was, but the soldier who was moving it received new orders," that patrolling trooper replied. He shrugged. "By the time anyone thought to remove the vehicle, traffic had already built up to the point where we couldn't move it. There's a helicopter en route from Gilenka Airbase to airlift it out of there so we can get traffic started up again."

Jack, Kiros and Ward looked at one another in shock.

"This army just ain't going to be the same when Laguna leaves," Jack sighed.

* * *

After a few hours of ass kicking and waiting before being told that the debrief couldn't happen without Laguna, Jack, Kiros and Ward shuffled back into the reception area of Galbadia Hotel.

"What's up with that? I'm sure we can relay the orders perfectly well," Jack grumbled.

"It's protocol that the highest ranking member in the squad needs to be present for the debrief," Kiros said.

"What a load of Hooey!" Jack replied. "Well I'll go get Casanova. You guys stay here."

"Rodger!" Ward mock saluted. "And tell him that he better of kept his pants on or I'll lose my bet!"

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Jack as he climbed the stairs.

"Let's see... Room 305... room 305... Ah! Here it is," Jack muttered. He was just about to rap sharply on the door, when instead he pressed his ear to the door.

"So, umm," cam Laguna's voice through the door. "Tell me about you. Like, I dunno, your dreams for the future?"

'That's it! Give her a chance to talk!' Jack thought.

"I," she began, then trailed off for an instant before resuming. "I want to sing. Not just to play the piano, but to sing."

'Wow... she wants to sing huh,' Jack wondered.

"Really?" Laguna asked. "I'd love to hear it."

'Of course you'd love to hear it you love sick puppy!' Jack shook his head.

"But, I can't," Julia responded. "I'm no good at writing lyrics. But, thanks to you, I think I can come up with something."

"Thanks to me?" Laguna asked in surprise.

"Yes," Julia replied. "The many faces you've shown me, times when you were hurt, worried . . . or felt pain deep inside you. Your smile, your face, your eyes . . . You've shown me something special. I think I can come up with a song now."

"Wow," Laguna replied at what Julia had said. He shook his head in denial. "This must be a dream."

"It's not a dream is it?" she asked, to which Laguna laughed a bit.

'Man, she really digs him! But I think it's time to break up this moment. I don't want to, but it's probably best if I do now, before things progress any further. This is their first date after all,' Jack thought before he rapped sharply on the door.

"Laguna! We got new orders! Meet by the Presidential Palace on the double! Oh, and Ward says you better have kept your pants on or he'll never see that fifty again."

Jack smiled at the laughter on the other side of the door before walking away. "Our Laguna's growing up. Good on y..."

The final word trailed off into nothingness as my hijacked perceptions faded, once more enshrouded by black shadow. For an instant, I didn't know what happened, until I began to keenly feel the soft cushions under my body. I then felt the dull rumble of the train running along the tracks.

Then, a voice, loud and electronic, as if announced over the intercom.

"Next stop, Timber. I repeat, next stop, Timber. Please pick up all your belongings and be ready to disembark. Our next stop is . . . ."

I had returned to reality.

* * *

(AN: Reviews up guys and girls. Let me know what you think of this chapter. I thought it went rather well. Well, till next time!)


	15. Chapter 15: The Princess

**Chapter 15: The Princess**

I yawned as I got up from the couch and began to stretch, but swayed slightly as my body was still rebooting from Ellone's magic. I took a moment to steady myself and looked at the others. Zell and Selphie were already awake, but Squall was still lying spreadeagled on the carpet.

"I bet he's going to wake up with the indentation of the carpet on his face," I said, earning a few soft laughs. I then began to check my equipment. I knew that no-one had taken anything, but better safe than sorry. Oathkeeper and Oblivion were still holstered at my side. I pulled them out and checked them over. No damages.

Ragnarok was still leaning up against the couch. I picked it up and inspected it to see no scratches or changes to the blade. So I attached it to my back. I then checked my items. Everything was there. I looked up to see that the other two SeeDs were thinking along the same lines as I was and were checking their supplies.

At that point, Squall groaned and pushed himself off the ground. "Hey there Squall," I said and he turned to me. Sure enough, there was a fleshy pattern of bumps over his right cheek where the carpet had dug into his skin. "Clean your face up," I suggested. He cocked his head to the side, took off one of his gloves and felt his face before rubbing the affected area to smooth it out.

"So, everyone still have everything?" I asked.

"I'm good," Zell replied.

"Same here," added Selphie.

"Squall?" I asked.

He looked down and saw his gunblade lying on the floor. He picked it up and a quick check of the chambers showed no damages and all the shells were intact. The weapon was undamaged. He sheathed it and did a quick inventory check. After he finished he nodded at me.

"So we were all asleep. Any theories?" I asked. I knew the cause but needed to seem oblivious.

"Someone might have released sleeping gas," Zell remarked. "There's a lot of people who resent SeeD. Not just Galbadia either."

"But then either we or our effects would be damaged or taken. There is no clear sabotage. And we are still here. Anyone feel any sore spots on your bodies. Tracking beacons may have been surgically implanted and then splashed with a potion to heal and repress the pain," I asked.

All three shook their heads.

"Well that's a relief. On a different note, I had a very interesting dream while I was out," I said.

"Me too. It was such a nice dream," Selphie replied.

I glanced at Squall to see his eyes give away a flicker of slight disgust. 'I guess he didn't like his dream,' I thought.

"**Josh! Can you hear me? Josh!"** called Shiva, sounding very frantic.

'I'm here Shiv. It's ok now,' I replied soothingly.

"**Oh thank Hyne. I thought... I thought...,"** she sniffled. I smiled comfortingly and projected an image of me giving her a tight hug, hoping it would work.

"**What the...!" **she jumped slightly **"What did you just do?"**

'Well you seemed very upset, so I projected a mental image of giving you a hug in the hopes it would make you feel better. Did it work?'

"**Yes, it did. I had no idea you could do that,"** she replied, sounding impressed.

'Neither did I. I'm glad it worked. Sorry for worrying you,' I apologised.

"**It's ok. It wasn't your fault,"** she replied.

The announcement sounded over the intercom once more, reminding us to have all our equipment and belongings ready.

"Well, time to go team," I said before making my way to the exit, but not before I dropped a bomb.

"Man, Jack Soule was a cool guy."

"Hey!" Zell called to me. "There was a Jack Soule in my dream too! He's a Galbadian soldier, right?"

I turned with carefully disguised fake shock on my face. "Yeah, that's right. There were three others too."

"Was one of them a soldier called Sir Laguna?" Selphie asked.

"I dunno about any Sir business. But yeah. Laguna, the bumbling but loveable idiot," I grinned. Selphie glared at me. "He's not an idiot. He's cool. Sooo cool. Much cooler that Jack."

"I think we're getting off topic here," I replied, causing Selphie to blink and nod.

"Zell? Is what we're saying match up with your memories of the dream?" I asked.

"Yeah, to a T," he replied.

"Jack, Laguna, Kiros and Ward," murmured Squall.

"Interesting. It seems that everyone shared the same dream," I murmured in interest. "But now isn't the time to think this over. We have a mission now. Let's concentrate on that at the moment. We'll have plenty of time to mull over it later," I suggested.

The three nodded, agreeing with me.

"Well, we'll be there soon. Everyone, begin any preparations as you see fit," I ordered.

"Yes sir," they intoned smartly.

I grinned, slightly embarrassed. "I'm still getting used to being the leader of our little squad. So don't bother with formalities."

"Sure thing Josh," Zell replied.

"Ok," Selphie added.

Squall simply nodded.

* * *

Zell hacked a couple times as the train pulled out of the station with a rumbling screech.

"Hyne, this place is dirty," the martial artist remarked.

I was inclined to agree. Timber was a city that did not benefit from the advanced technologies available in Balamb or Galbadia, and thus had inefficient, polluting industries. The whole city was dirty and polluted, but there was a charm to the generally blue and gray colours of the city. A sort of honesty and openness. It appealed to Zell, Selphie and myself. But judging from the looks Squall was giving, he didn't like the dirtiness at all.

"Well kiddies, let's get going," I said, gaining looks of indignation from the guys and a giggle from Selphie. I made my way down before spotting a kid, probably a year or two younger than me, loitering around at the bottom of the stairs.

The remarkable aspect of him was how unremarkable he looked. He wore a blue watch cap on his head, a yellow vest, white T-shirt, black pants and sneakers. Altogether, he looked like an ordinary teenager in Timber.

However, this ordinary teenager was loitering around the station we had gotten off at, at the time we'd gotten off.

I paused beside the teenager, looking away. A moment later, in an open, friendly tone, the kid spoke.

"New around here? Man, the forests have changed," the kid remarked.

"But the owls are still around," I added, stating the code phrase.

"Indeed. Welcome to Timber, sir. Please follow me." The kid then took a leisurely stroll down the street, with the four of us following him.

We travelled down the stone streets of the town, and this time I noted the lack of cars or other motor vehicles in the city. The town could almost be said to be backward in its design. I saw almost none of the amenities I saw in Garden or that could be found in Balamb or Galbadia.

"Wait here, sir," the kid suddenly said as we neared another station. I and my squad obliged, and the kid hurried out to the station. He paused on the tracks, and then looked around. I also looked around, noting dozens of civilians in the nearby area. I wasn't worried about being seen by the civilians as everyone who wasn't Galbadian was a resistance member of some group.

At that point the kid took out a signal flare while standing on the train tracks, and lit it.

I just shook my head in amusement as I noticed the surrounding civilians only throw him a passing glance and move on, a couple snickering. "That kid's got balls. But then again, there's nobody here but resistance members," I said.

Squall looked like he was just about to go bash some sense into the kid before I had said this. "I remember you said that on the train," he mentioned.

"Nice to see you were listening," I smirked, getting a small time glare from him in return. I turned back to the kid, who was now waving to something down the tracks. I looked in that direction to see what appeared to be a yellow-painted train engine barrelling down the track.

I glanced back to the kid, to see him gesturing for the train to come on. Then as the train began to apply its brakes, the kid began waving for it to slow down. The train engine was slowing down, but not fast enough apparently, as the kid began waving for it to stop frantically. The speed of the train continued reducing, and the kid waved more frantically.

I began to get a little nervous, hoping that this was gonna end up like in the game and that the train would stop in time. But the train wasn't slowing down fast enough, and I began to step out of my spot and run to the tracks to pull the kid out of the way.

However, before I'd even started the train was almost upon the kid's position. I grimaced, expecting to see the contact splatted then and there, but somehow, miraculously, the train came to a dead stop not three feet from our contact.

The kid, of course, had fallen back on his butt in sheer fright, looking up at the frighteningly painted train engine.

"Idiot!" shouted another teenager as he stepped out of a door on the side of the engine. "How many times have I told you not to stand in front of the train!" The man paused then, looking up at the four of us. "So, that them?"

"Yes, sir," the prone kid confirmed.

"Well, call 'em over!" the second man replied, shaking his head. "We're paying 'em a fortune, we can't let them leave now!" The prone man nodded, and turned his head to us.

"Please follow me, sir," he began, as his friend helped him stand up.

"Excuse us," the second man responded. "This way." He gestured to the platform by which the train had stopped. We nodded and made our way over to the platform, and together, we stepped into a cleverly concealed door in the car's side. We entered a sparse metal cabin, and then the train took off down the tracks.

The second man smiled at us. I could tell he was young, barely older than our first contact.

"So, you guys are SeeDs?" the man asked.

"Duh," I said, smiling in a friendly manner. "My name is Josh Kitsuné, and I'm the squad leader." I gestured to the other three SeeDs. "This is Squall, Zell, and Selphie." The man nodded, and extended his hand.

"Nice to meet ya. I'm Zone, leader of the Forest Owls." I nodded and shook his hand tightly. He stepped over to Selphie, grinning at her and giving her a handshake. On my other side, Zell took a second to wipe off his hand and held it out to Zone. Squall just looked on.

"Ok then," I said as Zone stepped back in front of the group, Zell obviously forgotten. "What needs blown to shit?"

"Woah! Take it easy," Zone responded, and Selphie giggled at my question. "Let me introduce you to our intelligence specialist." Zone gestured to the remarkably unremarkable man they'd met moments earlier at the station. "You've already met Watts, I see."

Watts grinned and nodded at the SeeDs. He glanced Zell's way as the martial artist, annoyed at being ignored, stepped to the side and began shadow boxing. Like Zone, no one else paid any attention to Zell. If I could of sweatdropped, I would. 'Poor Zell. Always getting ignored,' I sighed internally.

"**He needs to get a girlfriend,"** Diablos said, speaking for the first time since being recruited.

'Indeed my demonic looking friend,' I replied.

"Well, I guess it's just our princess then," Zone said, and I sighed, knowing exactly who he was talking about. I had already gotten the impression this was some half-baked operation, despite knowing how wrong I was, and I could only grin slightly at the mention of the "princess."

"Erm, it's her nap time, sir," Watts warned Zone, whose eyes widened.

"Aw, man. I woke her up last time, you go."

"No way, sir," Watts replied. "She hurt me last time. Pretty badly too. The bruises still haven't faded, sir."

"Psh. Fine," Zone turned back to me. "Hey, Josh, could you go and get the princess for us? She's in the last room at the end of the train. Do you mind?"

I grinned. "I shoot, slash and blow things up. I'm a master swordsman and a master gunman. I think I can handle one girl who sounds like she has a case of low blood sugar levels after she wakes up," I said.

Zone and Watts sighed explosively. "Thanks man," Zone replied.

"Are you that chicken shit?" I asked.

"The princess can get really scary sometimes, sir," Watts said with Zone nodding furiously.

"What a bunch of pussies," I muttered before looking at Squall. "You're coming with me!"

Squall sighed and nodded.

With that, I turned towards the door Zone had indicated and walked out of the cabin with Squall in step behind me. When I turned, I heard gasps from Zone and Watts. I turned and looked at them curiously. "What's up?" I asked.

"It's just your sword is just so... so..." Zone replied, failing to find a suitable word to describe the massive slab of deadly metal attached to my back.

"Awesome?" I suggested with a feral grin.

"...yeah," Zone replied. I just shook my head amusingly before Squall and I continued down the train.

The next room was a hallway with two doors. I headed down to the end, passing the nearer door, which was opened. A quick glance inside showed what looked to be the train's control room, with several members of the rebel faction sitting around either talking or working at their monitors.

Further down the hall, I found the door leading into the room of the "princess." As we stepped in, the first thing we noticed was how . . . pink everything was. The room looked like the kind of chamber belonging to a princess out of a fairy tale book, with a carpeted floor, an expensive- looking dresser, even including a huge bed, likely the kind that folded down, since I couldn't see anything that big fitting through the corridors of the train.

On the bed, sleeping peacefully, was a slender wisp of a girl. From this angle, with her back turned to us, all we could see was her long, mid-back-length black hair and the long blue coat she wore. A pair of white angel wings were embroidered on the back of her coat, right at her shoulder blades. Even in the bed, she wore a pair of black laced-up boots. It was Rinoa. Yay...

"Geez, can this room get any girly-er?" I whispered to Squall, who shrugged, slight amusement in his eyes.

The train suddenly screeched to a halt, and the jolt roused the girl. She rolled over, allowing us to see her face, and out of the corner of my eye I saw recognition hit Squall's eyes.

The princess opened her eyes, and then they focused on Squall. He looked right back, seemingly mesmerized by her brown orbs.

"Hey," Rinoa said in surprise as she sat up. "You're . . . You know, from the party." Squall nodded.

She then looked at me. "And you... you were the one orchestrating that band, right?"

"That's me," I grinned. "My name is Josh Kitsuné. And I remember you dancing with my friend here that night. Did you have a good time?" I asked.

"Yes, I did. You were very good," Rinoa replied. She then blinked. "Then, does that mean . . . You're both SeeD?"

"That's correct. This is Squall Leonheart. And I'm the squad leader. There are two more with Zone and Watts," I explained.

I was then caught off-guard as a joyous expression crossed Rinoa's face, and she leaped off the bad towards Squall. He raised his hands up as Rinoa almost tackled him, her arms wrapping around his neck. The momentum of her tackling hug spun the both of them around, and slammed her feet straight into my crotch, sending me to the ground in surprise and agony.

"Yes! SeeD is here!" she cheered, as Squall managed to arrest the momentum of the spin and remove the girl's arms from his neck.

"Take it easy," he said, chuckling slightly.

"ooowwwww..." I groaned from the ground, my hands over my abused balls. The raven haired girl's eyes widened and she squatted down to my level. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she apologised.

"It's ok, it's ok," I replied in a weak high pitched voice before focusing on one of my Cure spells. I melded it into my hand and then placed the hand on my crotch and sighed as the pain quickly filtered away. After two or three seconds, the pain was gone and I stood up. "All better," I grinned.

"I'm so very sorry! I was just so happy to see that real SeeDs came to help us," she replied. She then paused. "You are real SeeDs, right?" she asked, directing her question at me. In response I twisted my body so I was showing off my sword. "Do you think an ordinary teenager would carry this monster on his back?" I asked mildly.

"Oh my Hyne! That's a huge sword!" she gasped.

"Damn straight. We are the real deal. And be careful next time," I smiled in amusement.

"Ok!" she nodded. Rinoa then looked between the two of us. "I've been sending requests to Garden forever, but nothing . . . I'm so glad I spoke to Cid directly!"

"Oh," Squall said in understanding. "So, you were looking for the Headmaster at the party?" Rinoa shook her head.

"You know Seifer?" she asked.

"Oh we know him all right," I frowned, looking to the side as I remembered all the 'pain-in-the-arse'ness he caused in the test. Squall, too, began to scowl as memories of his own popped up.

"Well, he was the one who introduced me to Cid," Rinoa explained, seemingly not to notice the negative emotions playing over our faces. "Cid's such a nice man. I really didn't think SeeD would come out to help a measly little group like us, especially since we don't have huge amounts of money. But, after explaining our situation to him, Cid gave the go ahead right away." She laughed again in happiness. "Now that you guys are here, we'll be able to carry out all kinds of plans!"

"Nothing too crazy, ok? Despite the blade on my back, we're good, but not invincible," I grinned. She laughed.

"Well, let's get going. Zone and Watts were too chicken shit to come up here and wake you themselves," I said.

"They were?" Rinoa replied, shaking her head and chuckling some more. "Well, after braining Watts with a flower vase, I guess I understand why."

"How the hell did that happen?" I asked in amused wonder.

"Well apparently Watts was too nervous to shake me awake. So he decided to whisper into my face. I woke up to his face right in mine. I thought he was going to kiss me. I panicked and grabbed the nearest thing I felt, which was the flower vase," she giggled, embarrassed.

"Idiot," I shook my head. "How Watts thought that was a good idea, I'll never know."

Rinoa then paused, her expression suddenly changing to one of curiosity. "Ummm, Squall, is he here?"

"Who?" Squall asked, not sure what she meant.

"Seifer." Squall shook his head in denial. "No, he's not a SeeD."

"Oh," Rinoa murmured, sounding disappointed.

"The day Seifer becomes a SeeD will be a sad day for SeeDs in general," I said with Squall nodding sagely.

Rinoa glared at me, and I was surprised at how hostile she could look. "Why would you say something like that. He's so nice to me."

"Uhhh... must be a different Seifer," I replied to Squall.

"There's only one Seifer in Balamb Garden," Squall replied.

"But Seifer? Being nice? The universe must be coming to an end," I said, earning a small smile from Squall.

"You're both so mean!" Rinoa pouted like a little girl, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Well, let's go," she added, turning away. She stopped again, then turned back. "Oh, I haven't even introduced myself," she said, shaking her head. "I must have gotten too excited..."

"And your name is?" Squall asked.

"Rinoa," she responded. "Rinoa Heartilly."

"Nice to meet you," Squall said, holding out his hand. Rinoa shook it.

"Very pleased to meet you, Squall," she replied. Rinoa turned her head to the side, a look of idle curiosity on her face. "SeeDs dance quite well, don't they?" Squall shrugged.

"Approach your target inconspicuously at a dance party," he explained. "There may be missions requiring this kind of subterfuge. Its expected of a SeeD to learn various skills."

"Oh," Rinoa responded, sounding a bit disappointed. "So its work related. That's too bad."

"Don't complain," I said. "From what I saw up on stage, you two were still enjoying yourselves."

A whine from the direction of the bed caught my attention. We turned to see a dog, a brown and white border collie, crawl out from under the furniture. The dog looked up at me and Squall, then turned its head to Rinoa. It sniffed the air and then walked towards them.

"Oh, let me introduce you," Rinoa said, dropping to her knees and petting the dog. "This is Angelo, my partner."

"A pet?" Squall asked.

"Nah, more like a companion," Rinoa answered. "She's really smart! She knows lots of tricks, and she was trained to protect me. Isn't that right?" Rinoa ran a hand through the dog's fur. "I have some important work to do now, Angelo. Be good, okay?"

The dog whined again, like she understood Rinoa and didn't want to leave her side. Still, the dog obeyed and loped back over to the bed. A single bound put Angelo up on the bed, where she curled up and looked back at Rinoa, almost sadly.

"Isn't Angelo a guy's name? Wouldn't it be better to call her Angela?" I whispered to Squall. He nodded back, looking slightly confused.

"Come on, let's go," Rinoa added to us. "We've got something big planned."

"Like what?" Squall asked.

"You'll see," Rinoa replied with a grin and a wink, and then stepped out of her room.

Squall and I both looked at each other. "Better brace yourself," I grinned sarcastically.

* * *

(AN: And so Chapter 15 is out. Remember to review the chapter. And to anyone who hasn't voted already, there's a new vote on my profile. It would mean a lot if you can put your vote in. See you next time.)


	16. Chapter 16: The Big Plan

**Chapter 16: The "Big Plan"**

I introduced Rinoa to the other members of my small but deadly squad as and Squall, Rinoa and I entered the small train cabin. After the pleasantries were exchanged, Rinoa led us into a side room, clearly the planning room for the group's operations, judging by the tables, pegboards, and paper littering the area. The low lighting and atmosphere reminded me of movies where the rebels were planning their big operation against the evil empire. The parallels were not lost on me.

"Just stand anywhere you want," Zone said as he followed us into the room. "But make sure you can see the table with the models on it."

"Sure thing," I replied before choosing a position in front of the table, where I wasn't in anyone's way. Squall stood next to me. The table in question featured a simple model of a pair of trains on parallel tracks, with a couple of intersections between the tracks.

"This is a full-scale operation," Zone stated as Watts entered the room and closed the door. "Our faction, the Forest Owls, will be forever known in the pages of Timber's independence!" Watts and Rinoa grinned and nodded along with their leader's proclamation. "Exciting, huh? You guys will be remembered too!"

I sighed. "No offence, but none of us care about that. Just tell us the plan, we go do it, Timber gets its independence back, we go home, everyone is happy," I replied bluntly with my squad members nodding alongside me.

Zone glanced back at Watts, and they exchanged helpless shrugs before the leader turned back to me.

"It all started when we got top-secret info from Galbadia," Zone explained.

"I got the info, sir!" Watts piped in.

"There's a VIP coming into Timber," Zone continued.

"Super V-I-P!" Watts added, excitedly. He was almost wriggling with exuberance.

"His name is Vinzer Deling," Zone continued, and that name caught Squall's attention as his right eyebrow rose in surprise.

"Hoo… Vinzer Deling, eh?" I said, sounding interested. The President For Life of Galbadia, the ruthless dictator who had conquered, one by one, the various territories in the west, defeating the Dollet empire and overrunning Timber. Deling held on to his power through a loyal military command and aristocracy; he wasn't very popular among the regular soldiers or the civilian populace of Galbadia itself. For a brief instant, I recalled my dream as Jack Soule, and Laguna's stint in Timber during Deling's war.

"Well if you're planning to assassinate or kidnap the guy, then this plan had better be perfect. The President's guards are dangerous sons-of-a-bitches, and I don't like the idea of having to fight Deling's escorts with only the four of us. We're good, but not that good," I finished off.

"Deling is taking a private train into Timber from Deling City," Rinoa explained. "It's heavily armed and loaded with soldiers, which is to be expected of the President's train."

"Our plan is to-" Zone began.

"Blow it to smithereens with a rocket launcher!" Selphie shouted hopefully. Squall and I turned our heads towards her, and I noticed a faint grin work its way onto Squall's face. Of course I had a full blown grin on my own.

"That's not a bad option, considering the defences listed," I said, earning a beaming smile from her. Not for the first time I would understand why Irvine would fall for her. "However I think it might be better just to bombard it with GF attacks. I know Valefor has a powerful laser attack." I chuckled as I saw Selphie's eyes light up in excitement. 'I can easily imagine her shouting 'WOO HOO! LASER!''

"**So can I,"** Shiva agreed.

I noticed Zell wasn't even looking at the Forest Owls, instead having turned his attention to several periodicals and documents pinned to one of the boards. 'Probably gathering info. He's good at that.'

"Ahh, not quite," Zone replied to Selphie's and I's plan of approach.

"Bummer," I muttered to Selphie, who smiled in a 'Hopefully next time' way. "I guess you don't want to blast his ass into orbit then," I finished to Rinoa.

"That's right. Shall we begin?" she said, gesturing for everyone to gather around the table. We did so, with Selphie in front of me, and with Squall and Zell flanking me.

Now that I took a closer look at the trains, I noticed the details. The two train tracks were horizontal and ran parallel, with the upper track featuring two train cars, one painted yellow like the Forest Owls' base train. The lower track featured four cars, an engine, two heavily armored military transport cars, and a more finely designed car not unlike the ones used by SeeD. At least, it should have looked finely designed, but the car itself was rather badly constructed and painted terribly. Almost like a four-year-old had made it. In the game, you couldn't tell the difference with the graphics, but here it was easy to see. It really was a crap job.

"The yellow car is our base," Rinoa explained, gesturing to that car. She tapped the car attached in front of it. "This is the dummy car. We've designed it to be exactly like the President's car, at least from the inside."

Rinoa moved down to the second train.

"This is their train," she said. "It has four cars, the locomotive, the first escort, the President's car, and then the second escort. Both escorts are loaded with troops. Our objective is to seize the President in his car with our base car. To do this without alerting the escort cars before we can get clear, we'll have to switch the President's car with our dummy car. We'll use two switch points along this part of the train tracks to accomplish this."

"So, how exactly are we gonna pull this off?" Zell asked. "Seems kinda impossible."

"Not quite," Rinoa replied. She flicked a small switch on the model, and the trains began moving. "We can pull it off in seven steps. First, we pull our train up alongside theirs, and then our boarding team jumps from the roof of the dummy car to the roof of the second escort."

"Jump?" Selphie said, surprised.

"How far apart are the lines?" Squall asked, agreeing with Selphie's questioning.

"Not far, sir," Watts responded. "Normal humans could probably make it, and with those Guardian Force junctions you SeeDs have, it wouldn't be hard to pull off for you guys."

"Piece of cake," I said with a nod. "Next?"

"Cross the second escort car," Rinoa explained.

"The second escort is equipped with sensors, sir," Watts added. "You'll have to proceed with caution."

"Tech officers are on board, monitoring them," Rinoa said. "I'll cover them and the sensors later. The third step involves crossing the President's car. There aren't any sensors or guards."

"Deling hates the presence of his guards or having sensors around him," Zone added. "Which is why he keeps them out of his car."

"Fourth step involves uncoupling the first escort car from the President's car," Rinoa said. "It has to be very quick, and done before the first switch point. Otherwise-"

"We take turns kissing each other's asses' goodbye. Right?" I asked with little humour in my tone. Rinoa nodded grimly. As we spoke, the President's car and the first escort separated.

"Yeah, so we'll have to move fast." Squall opened his mouth, probably about to ask Rinoa about the uncoupling process, but she stopped him with an upraised hand. "I'll explain the uncoupling process later." I grinned. Already Squall was whipped by Rinoa.

"After the cars are uncoupled, we have the base and dummy move in. The trains will automatically re-link and will be moving together." The top pair of cars crossed the switch point and linked up into one long train.

"We uncouple the trains before we reach the second switch point," Rinoa continued, and the trains separated once more as they reached the second switch point. "By the time the Galbadians know what happened, we'll be long gone with the President's car. We have exactly five minutes to pull this off."

"Five minutes? Will that be enough?" Zell asked.

"We've run simulations," Zone responded. "It should only take three minutes to pull it all off. Piece of cake for SeeDs, right?"

"Of course!" Selphie shouted. Now that it looked like some real action was going to happen, she seemed more than eager to get to the mission. "Too easy!"

"Calm down Selphie. We're still in professional mode," I reminded her gently.

"Oh, right!" she grinned sheepishly, her volume a lot quieter.

I wished I could ask 'Are you sure that the President will be on that train, and not a body double?' but if I did that, there was a big possibility that the operation would be shut down; the Forest Owls not wanting to risk it all when the target might not even be on there in the first place.

"Okay, now about the sensors," Rinoa said. "Watts?"

"The guards have a sound sensor, and also a temperature sensor, sir," Watts explained. "They're both directed up, and are wired through plates in the roof so they detect what's happening on the rooftop. The effective range of each sensor is about the width of a window. If the sound sensor picks up any large noises beyond the wind above the train, it'll go off, so you'll have to be very sneaky and quiet, sir!" We nodded at Watts's advice.

"The temperature sensor will pick you up if you stay still. Any abnormally high temperature in the area the sensor is scanning will set it off, so dodge the sensor if you can."

"How will we know when they point the scanners at us?" Squall asked. "We can't see through the metal."

"Optic cable," Zone responded. He held up a miniature flat television screen and a slender cable with a glass end, connected by a long coil of wire. "This camera can be slipped in through air vents or their windows. It connects to the flatscreen, and with it you can see when and where the guards are checking the sensors."

"How will we know which sensor is being checked?" Zell asked.

"You can't, not unless you spot the guard using it, sir." Watts responded. "There's a blue-uniformed junior officer watching the sound sensor, and a red-uniformed senior officer observing the temperature sensor, sir."

"We only need to worry about moving too loudly," I said to everyone. "I have a plan for keeping the top of the train cool." When I saw everyone's questioning looks, I simply said that I would tell them later and to leave it to me.

"That's about it," Rinoa said. "Now, about uncoupling the cars."

"Yeah, question!" Selphie said, hopping up and down like a kid in class. "How do we uncouple the cars from a moving train?"

"We can't uncouple the cars directly," Rinoa responded. "We'll have to enter codes to disable the circuits controlling the coupling process. If we do so, the cars will uncouple automatically."

"Where do we enter these codes?" Squall asked.

"The maintenance technician's access panel, just below the door you use to board the train," Rinoa replied. "You'll need to rappel down the side, and then enter the codes. I'll be with the boarding team, so I'll be relaying the codes to whoever is entering them. The keypad will have four buttons on it, corresponding to the numbers in the code. But instead of numbers, there will be symbols. We only have the codes in numerical format, though."

"How will we know which is which?" Zell asked.

"The keys are arranged in a line, starting with one and ending with four," Rinoa explained. "You'll only have about five seconds to enter the code, or it will change and the previous entries will become invalid. We do have the sequence by which they change, so I can still supply you with the codes, but we'll have to restart the whole process."

"Sure thing. Squall, you'll be in charge with entering the codes," I replied. Squall nodded in understanding. "Does anyone have any questions about the mission before starting?" I asked. Zell glanced up at me, looked back down at the model, and then shrugged.

Selphie, however, seemed somewhat puzzled.

"Hey, by the way," she began. "This train model's nice, but the President's car looks real shabby. Why is that?"

"Rinoa made it, that's why," Zone explained. "Everything else we bought at the gift store."

"Yeah, I thought some kid made it," Zell commented. "Paint job's ugly as Diablos's butt, too."

"**Hey! For your information I've got a nice ass for a guy damnit!"** Diablos raged.

'I can't believe I just heard that from you,' I replied, but still spoke to Zell. "Diablos would rather you didn't diss his ass." Zell blinked in surprise. "Yeah, I know," I whispered to him.

"Oh, shut up!" Rinoa complained, sticking her tongue out at Zell. "I made it look that way on purpose. It represents my hatred for Deling and his whole government."

I glanced at Rinoa to see honest hate and anger stamped on her face as she glared at the model. Zell, however, was unimpressed. He muttered something and leaned back against the wall.

"It's one of… the ugliest things I've ever seen," Selphie commented. "You must really hate him."

The train suddenly shuddered, and began moving once more.

"Moving again," Rinoa said. "We must have finished the hook-up process with our dummy car." She turned to Zone and Watts, her expression asking them if they were going to come with her on the mission.

Zone made a pained face, and clutched his stomach.

"You know me, and my terminal nervousness problem with my tummy!" he said. "Ouch, my stomach…"

Watts shrugged, and stepped back in the face of Rinoa's gaze.

"Information gathering is my specialty, ma'am," he responded, then turned and hurried out the door, not wanting to get involved in the execution of the mission.

"Man. Those two really are chicken shit," I said in an amused tone. Rinoa shook her head at her comrades' cowardice, and then turned back to me.

"We'll be ready soon," she said. "Are you guys prepared?"

I removed my sword and inspected the edge with a critical eye. Seeing no blemishes I returned it to my back and took out my guns, one by one. I checked the ammo gauge, removed the ammo cartridge and tested the trigger mechanism. I did this on both guns before holstering them and nodding in satisfaction. I mentally went over the list of junctioned magic, GFs and potions.

I glanced back at Squall, Zell and Selphie, and the affirming nods of his squad responded to the unanswered question.

"We sure are," I grinned as we all faced Rinoa.

* * *

I was impressed with the dummy car the Forest Owls were attaching to the front of their base. The vehicle was finely appointed, and looked exactly like the inside of the real President's car, judging by the recon photos Watts had obtained of the real thing. Everything from the carpets to the chairs to the mini-chandelier, even a small television screen built into the wall under a sliding panel, had been replicated.

But, the most impressive aspect of the car that had been replicated was the President himself. It was a life-sized, fully animatronic replica of Deling, complete with a face that almost perfectly resembled the real dictator's. However, my partner, Squall, didn't think it would withstand much scrutiny up close with a detailed inspection.

"Aw," Tim, the Forest Owl who made the fake President, said when Squall had voiced his concerns. "That won't be a problem. There'll be a newspaper covering up his face, and plus, I've added a motion detector that activates whenever someone gets close. Try it."

Squall did so. When he got about close enough for a good look at the President, the head rose up slightly, as if looking up from a newspaper it was reading.

"I'm in a very bad mood right now," the dummy declared, its mouth moving in good lip-synch with the words. "If there's nothing in particular, I order you to leave, immediately!" The dummy sounded the part, replicating Deling's voice well, and sounding suitably angry and irritated. Squall gave Tim a nod of approval.

"Nice!" I grinned. "Any Galbadia loyalist'll piss themselves when they hear that."

"Seems pretty real, huh?" Tim said with a grin. "No one will ever realize it's a fake until it's too late! With what I programmed him to say, no guard will ever look over the paper!"

"Unless they want twenty lashes and one month's pay lost!" another Forest Owl added, to some laughter.

Squall and I left shortly afterward, meeting Rinoa, Zell, and Sephie back in the main cabin in the base car. Of the group, only myself, Squall and Selphie carried weapons. Zell didn't need them, but Rinoa…

"Where's your weapon?" Squall asked, to which she shrugged. The girl reached under her coat and patted a pair of knives in their sheaths at her waist.

"Usually I carry a slashing crossbow," Rinoa explained. "The kind that returns like a boomerang. But it won't do me much good on top of a speeding train, so I've only got my backups and magic."

"You use magic?" Selphie asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Rinoa replied. "I took some self-defense training by a reputable master in Deling City, and a former military magic specialist in Dollet gave me some instruction in using magic. The Forest Owls taught me some more, so I've had enough to stand even with a Galbadian trooper."

"Good to see you're not a defenceless girl then," I said, grinning in a joking manner. Rinoa turned around to retort angrily, but saw the smile on my face and settled for just sticking her tongue out at me. I simply shook my head amusedly. At that point, Watts entered the cabin.

"Okay, sir!" he said, excitedly. "We're close to the train! Are you ready?" I glanced to my teammates, once more getting the confirmation from them that they were prepared for the operation.

"Showtime!" I said.

* * *

[AN: Hey ya'll! I'll be putting the new poll on my profile now so go and check it out, and vote for which story you want seen first. Review please, of course. And I'll see you next update!"


	17. Chapter 17: Train Assault

**Chapter 17: Train Assault**

I edged forward on the roof of the fake Presidential train car. The wind whipped my hair, and the sheer force of the passing air pushed hard on me. However, it wasn't enough to stop me, or even to really slow me down much, considering my current junction configuration.

I stopped as I reached the front end of the fake car, and looked back to Squall, Rinoa, Selphie, Zell, and Shiva, who was in her Avatar form, her blue and blonde hair streaming behind her as she brought up the rear. While I waited, Squall focused his eyes on the steadily approaching train ahead and slightly to the left of us. On both sides of the train tracks, forests and rolling plains passed the two vehicles as we travelled through Timber's countryside.

"We'll catch up soon!" Rinoa shouted over the wind as she reached Squall and I, to which we nodded. I looked back to Zell, who was carrying the optic cables. He would be responsible for watching the guards, and he already had the portable screen strapped to his left forearm.

My team gave me the thumbs up, or in Squall's case, nodded, and I grinned. I turned back to the approaching train, to see the distance between us and it had shortened considerably. I judged the distance, and nodded.

"OK, HOLD IT HERE!" I shouted when we were thirty feet behind the car. Rinoa nodded, and waved behind her. A Forest Owl who was standing at the top of the train nodded, and shouted down into the door. The relay to the engine room was quick, and at twenty feet between the two cars, the distance became stable.

"Zell, you're first!" I shouted, stepping to the side. Zell nodded and moved to the edge, and with a shout of "Geronimooooo!" he leaped the distance. His GF-enhanced muscles hurled him across the gap, and he landed with ease on the roof. Selphie was next, and with a cheer of "Whoo-hoo!" she too was on the rooftop of the second escort. I nodded to Squall and he gestured to Rinoa, who crawled up beside him.

"Don't drop me," she warned, slipping an arm around his neck. Squall shrugged as Rinoa climbed onto his back. Her arms locked around Squall's neck, and she clutched them tightly. Squall then jumped and the two flew across the gap and landed easily on the targeted train.

"Ok Shiv, let's go!" I called to her before, without thinking, I scooped her up into carrying her bridal style in my arms. Milliseconds later I was blushing heavily at the reality that I was holding a very scantily clad Shiva in my arms at this very moment. The fact that she immediately wrapped her ice gloved hands around my neck and looked at me in an innocent manner did not help in the slightest. In the back of my mind I realised that her skin, while very smooth, was also not freezing cold, but was rather warm.

Then we leaped, flying through the air with shocking ease, the wind whipping our hair once more. For an instant, there was nothing between us and the rushing ground below but air.

And then we landed, myself perfectly balanced, on the roof of the second escort.

"Okay!" Rinoa shouted, checking her watch. "From now on we have exactly . . . five minutes to complete the operation!"

* * *

-] Third POV [-

Sargent Bresin looked over his men. Of the thirty Galbadian soldiers assigned to the President's second escort, two-thirds of that number were asleep. The remaining ten men were either talking among themselves, or in PFC Cain's case, watching his sound sensor monitor.

Bresin sat back in his chair, and glanced at his watch. They'd be in Timber within three hours. Then, the President could do his thing and they could go home. Bresin was looking forward to getting back to Galbadia. He had three weeks leave scheduled when he got back, and his duty as part of the President's Elite Guard kept him busy too often with keeping Deling safe from his many enemies. Maybe he could spend some more time with his son . . . .

"Sargent," one of the soldiers called, gaining Bresin's attention. He looked up, to see the soldier in question looking out one of the back windows.

Out there, on the train track running alongside theirs, was a second train, about twenty feet back but steadily moving away. It was an oddly configured train as well, consisting of the locomotive in back pushing the front car. How unusual.

Something about the train set off alarm bells in the officer's head. He turned to PFC Cain.

"Cain, get that sound sensor up and running," Bresin ordered. The soldier nodded and hopped to it. "The rest of you, on alert." Bresin headed over to the temperature sensor while he was doing so. He activated the device, not even bothering to check it to see if it was running properly. He wouldn't need to, as Bresin knew his machinery worked properly at all times. It never failed; after all, he was the one who serviced it!

"Sir?" another soldier, PFC Presley, asked. "Should we alert the President?"

"Negative, private," Bresin said with a definitive shake of his head. "We'll shoot a message to the first escort, but we're not going to disturb the President unless we need to. He's a politician, not a soldier, and he's more likely to panic if he thinks something is wrong."

"Understood, sir," the soldier responded with a salute.

"Cain!" Bresin shouted. "That sensor up and running yet?"

"Its online, sarge!" Cain replied.

"Alright, PFC," Bresin began. "You sweep starting from the rear of the car. I'll start at the front. Everyone else be at alert. I want those guns loaded and cocked, and that magic ready to go! Presley, be ready to send an alert to the first escort if we get a positive reading for an intruder, hear me?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

The troopers never realized that everything they were doing was being recorded on the optic camera poking through the window.

* * *

-] First POV [-

"Yo, Josh!" Zell shouted.

"I'm right here, you know," I responded, somewhat more quietly. "There's no need to shout."

"Oh, sorry," Zell replied with a shrug. "Umm, anyway, we'd better get moving. They're suspicious."

"Are the sensors online?"

"I think so, yeah," Zell replied. "Looks like . . . the guard with the sound sensor is moving back. The red guard is moving to the front."

"Ok. Here's how we're going to do it. Shiva, this is where I'll need your help. I need you to cool the entire roof of this carriage to a suitable level and keep it there while we cross quietly, especially the areas where we are walking. Can you do this?" I asked.

"Yep!" she chirped. She then glided to the centre of the carriage using ice on her feet to make no noise, and got down on her hands and knees. I took one look at her perfect ass bent over and a sudden fantastic crotch shot, and a small spurt of blood erupted from my nose.

'Oh my god! What a fine ass!' I gulped, completely forgetting that the GF's inside my head could see and hear what I could see and hear.

* * *

-] Third POV – Inside a private GF only room inside Josh's mind [-

"**Ha haaa! I told you! I told you she would go through with my dare!"** Ifrit guffawed.

"**Damn… I'd never thought I would see the day that Ice Queen Shiva has her heart melted by a human. I've asked her out countless times but no reaction and constant rejection was all I ever got. What does this kid have that I don't?"** Dante ranted.

"**Many things,"** sniffed Amy and she glanced slightly disdainfully at the GF gunman next to her.

"**I've never seen cousin so daring with someone before,"** Bahamut mused, now very interested in her new summoner.

"**I'm just glad she's opened up to someone other than Hyôrinmaru and you Ifrit,"** Sukuna smiled.

"**True. She was always a bit of a loner. I think Shiva's finally showing her true self to everyone. And it's all because of Josh,"** Ifrit nodded proudly.

"**He certainly is an interesting human,"** Diablos said.

"**I'm happy that sis has found someone at long last," **Hyôrinmaru smiled.

"**Now we just need to get you laid, kid,"** Dante grinned slyly. Hyôrinmaru blushed brightly as Dante laughed loudly with Ifrit and Diablos joining in.

"**Stop teasing Hyon!"** Kyuubi said angrily at the three laughing male GFs.

"**Stop calling me Hyon!" **called Hyôrinmaru in dismay.

* * *

-] First POV – Back on the train [-

Having absolutely no idea of the conversation currently happening in my mind, I quickly refocused my eyes on Shiva's hands as I wiped the blood off my face; thankfully most of the spurt had been caught by the rushing wind and had blown away instantly. I watched Shiva focus for a few moments before she turned her head around and nodded at us.

"Ok guys, let's move!" I ordered and we moved across the roof as one, quietly.

As soon as we were in position, Shiva stopped channelling subtle ice magic into the carriage roof, waved at me and she disappeared.

"'Kay, optic cable's inserted," Zell called as he finished slipping the cable through the vent on top of the first escort. "I've got a good view of the whole car from here."

"Nice," I grinned, finishing fastening the cable to Squall's belt. "Selphie, you got this end?"

"Yup!" Selphie replied, coiling the cable around her hands.

"I've got the codes," Rinoa said, holding up a piece of paper that flitted in the wind. "You ready?" Squall nodded.

"Zell, anyone near the rear door?" I asked.

"Nope," Zell replied with a shake of his head. "No one moving. I've got a single officer in red and a soldier in blue sitting near the rear, but everyone else is towards the front."

"Keep your eyes on them," I ordered while Squall moved to the edge of the train's roof. Glancing back at Selphie, Squall got a thumbs up, and then dropped down the side of the car, holding onto the cable for dear life. I moved to the edge and looked over to see what was happening.

Selphie stopped the cable precisely, and Squall braced his feet against the rear door, coiling his legs into a crouch so he could get at the control panel, the rushing ground only a couple of feet below.

"Still clear?" I called to Zell.

"You're clear!" Zell shouted back.

"First code!" Squall called as he opened a small panel beneath the door.

"First code is . . . ." Rinoa began. "Four, three, four, one!"

Squall punched in the symbols.

"Second code!" he shouted.

"Second code is . . . . Two, one, three, four!" came the reply. Squall punched it in.

"Third!" he shouted.

"Third is-"

"Incoming!" Zell shouted. "Get back up!" Squall was hauled up by Selphie and I, barely dodging the glance of a wandering blue-uniformed soldier.

"He spot us?" I asked, to which Zell shook his head.

"Nah, just talking with the two at the back," he said. "Let's see . . . looks like he's going back now. Umm, you're clear." Squall nodded, and Selphie took the cable in hand once more. He leaped off again, and once more was stopped inches above the rapidly passing ground beneath.

"Okay, third code is . . ." Rinoa continued. "Its one, four, two, one!" Squall pounded the buttons in, and then was quickly hauled back up. Squall and I glanced to toward the connected cars, and unsurprisingly, the two disconnected. With nary a sound or movement beyond a faint creaking in the disconnected couplings, the cars came apart.

Moving quickly, my team and I scrambled to the President's car as it slid away.

"Okay, now, we wait for the others to get in position," Rinoa said, looking back.

She held up a hand, and lit a green flare. That was the signal to the Forest Owl's base car. A responding green flare confirmed that they had been seen and the yellow base, with its false dummy car, sped up. It quickly passed the retreating President's car, and a moment later, reached a junction, sliding onto the same track. The base fell back, reaching the President's car and automatically coupling with it. Then, it sped up, dragging the whole train up to connect with the first escort car. As soon as it met, the cars coupled, and one long train was suddenly formed, linked together and moving.

"We have to move fast," Rinoa said. She handed Selphie the same paper she'd been reading to Squall. She then pulled out a second paper. "You and Zell use those for the dummy car, it's got the codes to release it from our train. These," Rinoa held up the second paper, "Will be for the second escort. I'll take care of that one with Squall."

"Gotcha!" Selphie replied. Zell gave me the optical cable and screen to me before he and Selphie moved forward to disconnect their train from the dummy. Squall, Rinoa and I crawled to the back, Squall getting the cable ready. I knelt down and fed the cable into the vents similar to where Zell had fed his. I turned on the screen and after a moment of booting up the system, the screen showed the inside of the second escort.

"Ok! Big Brother's connected!" I called out. Rinoa and Squall looked at me in a confused manner.

"Sorry, inside joke," I replied sheepishly. Squall just shook his head before looking to Rinoa, who nodded.

* * *

-] Third POV [-

Sargent Bresin strode back and forward through the second escort, almost acting as if he were on patrol. PFC Cain walked with him, while the rest of the troops sat around, not as on edge as they had been but still anxious. There had been no indication of intruders, and now, the suspicious train that they had seen earlier had flown past at high speeds. Bresin didn't know what was going on, but he was worried.

"Cain, check the front windows, see if anything odd's going on," Bresin ordered. "Presley, check with the first escort. I'll check out back. Everyone else, stand ready!"

Confidence boosted slightly by his order, Bresin walked to the back of the train, looking out the windows for any threats.

"Sarge!" Presley called as Cain reached the front of the train. "Sir, I can't reach the first escort."

"Everyone, at alert!" Bresin shouted, checking his arm-guns. Too much weird stuff had been going on, and Bresin had had enough. If something was wrong with the intercom, he was well within his rights to put his men at alert in case of intruders. Better to be safe than sorry.

"Cain, check outside!" Bresin called as his men readied their weapons.

"Yes sir!" Cain paused by the front side door, looking out the window. He thought he might have caught a flash of black, but it was probably his eyes playing tricks on him. Still, he had to make certain, and thus, Cain slid open the door leading between the cars, so he could check outside.

* * *

"We've got incoming! A blue uniformed soldier is coming your way!" Josh called from his position.

Thinking quickly, Squall pushed off the side of the train, moving forward to where the two cars met. There, he'd be out of sight of prying eyes.

It was there that, perched between the two cars, Squall heard the soldier opening the door between the cars, and realized very suddenly that he would be practically right in front of the soldier when he stepped out to check.

* * *

Cain stepped outside, looking to his right, then left.

"Hm," he said, shrugging, looking back and forth again. He turned and stepped back in, shutting the door behind him.

"Negative, sir. I didn't see anything," he called back.

* * *

Squall had nowhere to go but up. And thus, up he went, leaping straight up into the air and perching between the two cars, his feet placed on either rooftop. He waited up there, not breathing, until Cain had become satisfied that there wasn't anyone out there.

"Fifth code, Rinoa," he asked her. Rinoa, sitting right next to where Squall was perched, nodded.

"Four, two, four, two," she said, and he nodded. Squall dropped back down and to the side, and entered the final code. He then pulled himself back up.

"Done," he said.

"Nice job Squall!" Josh congratulated before the train cars on their side began decoupling. The three scrambled back onto the real President's car. Up ahead, they could see Zell and Selphie having finished their work, the first escort and its dummy car pulling ahead slightly.

A second later, the base car hit the junction, and turned off with its prize.

* * *

-] First POV [-

"That was perfect sir! Amazing, sir! You're the best, sir!"

Watts was showering the praise on me and my team as we were rechecking our equipment in preparation for what Rinoa called "serious negotiations" with Deling. The President double was no doubt completely unaware of the fact that he had been kidnapped, unless he looked out the window. But even then, I doubted he'd realize anything was amiss unless he tried moving between cars, which was unlikely.

I had already conferred with Squall, Zell and Selphie. We were going to rush in quickly, to secure the train against any possible threats inside the President's car. Watts had already warned us Deling carried a powerful pistol for self-defense, and we didn't want to go in with our guard down.

"Are we ready?" Rinoa asked, to which I nodded.

"Good. We've waited so long for this confrontation with Vinzer Deling . . . ." A mixed expression of both anticipation and anxiety was apparent on Rinoa's face as she finished strapping her Pinwheel weapon to her forearm. This was the first time I had seen this, so I took the chance to study it. The weapon looked kind of like a metal, bladed disk mounted on a small crossbow. The device, oddly enough, included a laser sight and some kind of tracking equipment. It was referred to as a Pinwheel, a kind of lock-on crossbow that would strike its target like a slashing sword before returning to its wielder. It was decidedly expensive and extremely high- tech, from what I knew when I had flicked through the Weapons Monthy magazine on the trip to Timber.

The group armed and ready, I opened the door into the Presiden'ts car. Moving quickly, my team and I charged in, securing the room. A quick sweep showed the car was empty, save for the President himself, who sat calmly in his chair, seeming completely unsurprised at the sudden intrusion. I stood over him, the barrel of Oblivion pressed against the dictator's throat, but judging by the smile on the man's face, Deling either didn't realize the danger, or he didn't care.

"Disarm him," I ordered, and Zell stepped forward. He quickly patted the President's coat, and found the small but deadly pistol concealed in its pocket in his jacket. In the meantime, both Selphie and Squall stood tensed and ready to move if Deling even twitched wrong. Deling watched it all with a seemingly detached amusement, a faint and unusual twinkle in his eyes.

"Are you children done yet?" he asked, his voice full of contempt, and a degree of impatience. My eyes narrowed at the President's calm and collected demeanour, as if the man was not only unimpressed by the SeeDs, but as if he had been expecting them the whole time. Of course I knew who or rather what, this person was, but still… I glanced back and forth between the rest of my team, and they seemed quite confused at his attitude.

"Is he secured?' Rinoa asked from the entrance to the train, to which I nodded. She took a breath and closed her eyes for a second, as if collecting herself for the task at hand. Then, moving as deliberately and calmly as she could, Rinoa crossed the car and stood in front of the President. I took the handgun away from Deling's throat and stepped back, but I stood prepared to strike and blast the dictator's head off.

"President Deling," Rinoa began, looking down at the man, her eyes meeting his. "If you don't resist…" Rinoa began faltering, I noticed. Her voice took on an almost unsure waver as she apparently engaged in a mental fencing duel with the dictator. Deling just watched her, meeting her eyes and maintaining that creepy smile of his.

"If you don't resist," Rinoa continued. "You won't get hurt." She took a quick and surprised step back as Deling suddenly began shaking in laughter.

"And if I do resist?" Deling asked, looking Rinoa dead in the eye as he continued laughing. "What would you do… young lady?"

I caught a sudden change in Deling's posture and eyes. They turned a darker color, the whites transforming into a dull yellow as a scowl appeared on his face. Rinoa took another step back in shock, and my hand tightened around the handle of Oblivion. I shot a glance to my teammates, who were also tensed.

"Oh, boo-hoo," Deling stated, still laughing. He stood from his seat, oblivious to me and my team sliding into combat stances. "All these resistance groups in Timber. Pass along a little false information, and they fall for it… how pathetic. Seems there are nothing but amateurs in charge around here."

"Ama… teurs?" Rinoa asked, shaking her head in denial. "No! We still caught you, Deling!"

The President shook with more laughter, his voice seeming to change slightly, taking an almost unearthly tone as he spoke.

"Don't you get it?" he asked, his voice now a snarl. I caught cracks in his voice, as the pitch of his words began rising and falling oddly.

"Rinoa, get back!" Squall warned, putting his free hand out and pushing her away from the President… or whatever the hell he was.

"I see your hired goons understand," Deling said with another strange laugh. "I'm not really the President. I'm what they call a body double. A little misdirection goes a long way, wouldn't you say? Even now, Deling is safely entering Timber through another route, while I deal with you." The clone creature patted his rear, and snarled again, taking a step towards Rinoa.

"My butt hurts from all this sitting," he complained. The faux Deling's body began twitching and his skin started crawling in a strange and sickening way. "So, what did you have in stORE for for me had I resiSTED?" The thing's voice rose and fell strangely, mutilating the words as they came out of its mouth. It advanced another step, and I saw strange black drool coming out of its mouth.

* * *

-] Third POV [-

"Fuck this!" Josh snarled. "Let's waste this thing!" Both Squall and Josh exploded into motion, with Squall bringing his weapon in an overhead cleave and Josh brandishing his guns, though he held back to let Squall go in first. Zell attacked as well, scooting forward and low for a sweeping kick to the thing's side. Selphie fell into spellcasting.

To Josh's amazement, the faux Deling shot an arm up and caught Squall's gunblade on its blocking forearm. The sharpened edge cut rather deeply in, but despite the blackish goo splattering out, the fake President seemed uninjured. The thing shrugged off Zell's kick as well, though the powerful blow should have killed an ordinary man.

That, combined with the slam from its uninjured arm that took Squall in the chest and hurled him across the cabin, told Squall that this thing, whatever it was, was definitely not human in any sense.

Josh blasted a few bullets at the monster, hoping to slow it down, while Zell came in with another strike, a rapid pair of jabs to the monster's face. However it ignored the shots to his arms and legs and it blocked one of Zell's punches and took the other in its face with a smile. It then returned the hit with bone-crushing force. Zell was tossed back like Squall. It spun to Josh and came in swiftly, taking the young sorcerer by surprise, and slammed one of its arms into his stomach, sending him flying into the wall of the carriage. It then turned onto Rinoa and laughed again in its strange, crackling voice, ignoring Selphie, who continued casting her spell.

"QuiTE aMUsing thouGH . . . . " it said, stalking towards her. "For beING such amAtEurs! HoW daRe YOU InSUlt tHe presIDent!" It suddenly rushed forward and threw Rinoa to the ground with a swift backhand. She let out a cry as she fell and hit the wall of the cabin. The President took another step forward, drooling and towering over her. It raised its hands to slam down on her, and then the arms descended.

Only the hands stopped in front of Rinoa's face, blocked by a shimmering transparent shield that materialized over her, intercepting the blow. The false President growled, and turned its attention to Selphie, who had cast the Protect spell over Rinoa. It took a step towards the small SeeD, but then spun around as Josh rose from his location and charged.

He ripped Rangarok from his back and slashed the blade across the fake, the tip only barely cutting into it. Black gooey blood spurted out of the wound. Josh followed up with three quick shots from Oathkeeper which was gripped in his left hand. More black blood gushed out from the wounds, but the monster flew at Josh and came down with one of his arms. Josh dodged the arm as it impacted the ground and sliced it off with his blade. Then Josh let Oathkeeper off and fired of a dozen shots right into its gut.

Black goo splattered out the monster's back as each energy bullet slammed into the monster. Each shot blew more of the creature apart, but somehow it still fought on. Gritting his teeth, Josh swung his blade around and slammed it into the things chest, with a large shockwave blasting out from the hit. The blast tore a large hole in the roof as Josh stood there with his sword pointed upwards, the fake impaled on the end and black goo spurting out of the wound, though none of it splattered on Josh himself.

Josh waited as the thing's movements slowed and came to a standstill before he removed the sword from the fake Deling and flicked the sword to the side strongly, removing all the black blood on the blade from the force. He then placed the sword back on his back and holstered his guns.

* * *

-] First POV [-

"Is everyone ok?" I asked as I looked around to survey the damage. Selphie was helping Rinoa stand, while Zell had positioned himself between the girls and the monster, ready to stop any attacks the creature would have made at either of them.

"I'm good," Zell responded to my question. "Knocked me around a bit but I'm alright."

"I'm ok," Squall replied.

"We're fine too," Selphie said to Squall as Rinoa stood. She looked down at the dead fake Deling, and visibly shuddered, her eyes still wide with shock and confusion.

"What?" she shook her head. "What was that thing?"

"Zombie." I said, looking disgustedly at the mess in front of me. "Nasty fuckers they are. If you are bitten, they inject a virus that reverse all healing items and spells, dealing damage instead of healing."

"Whatever it was, its dead now," Squall replied, walking over to us. "Though now-" The sudden surprise on both Zell and Selphie's faces stopped Squall in mid-sentence. We spun around, and we just stood there, staring at the remains of the clone Deling, or rather, what remained of those remains. The clone's corpse was boiling and changing, steaming black goo erupting from tears in its skin. The body shook and twitched, and from somewhere within, something began growing.

I watched in horrified fascination as the body broke down into steaming mush, and from that, a monster rose, like a twisted version of a butterfly erupting from its cocoon.

"What the…?" Squall asked, totally shocked by the bizarre and hideous creature that emerged.

It was humanoid in only the vaguest sense, with a vaguely humanoid skull. Its white, peeling skin was sickly and pale, with blueish veins running throughout its body. A long flap of the thing's skin stretched from the left side of its skull down to a massive, deformed left arm, the hand like a bloated, green and blue growth, tipped with green and blue claws. Its left leg was massive, overgrown and swollen, almost like the trunk of a huge animal's leg as opposed to a human's limb. Its right arm and leg were almost of normal proportions, except skinny and emaciated. A bright blue tumour-like growth was on its left hip, the purpose unknown, but still disturbing as it writhed like a separate entity. The creature glared at the SeeDs with its dark blue eyes, full of malice, as it began to stumble forward, its torso swaying back and forth oddly.

"Oh hell no!" I said as I reached to my belt and withdrew the Phoenix Down I had taken for this precise moment. 'Shiva! I need you to place all the Ultima spells onto my speed stat!' I ordered quickly.

"**Ok!"** she replied and almost instantly, I felt weaker in my strength, fortitude and magic. But then the world slowed down greatly as the forbidden magic was junctioned to speed. I raced forward and reared back my hand that was clutching the vial of revive potion. I almost instantly crossed the distance between it and myself and shoved the vial into the zombie's mouth.

"Now be a good little zombie and drink your medicine!" I grunted as I watched the golden contents of the vial flow out of the container and into the thing's mouth. As soon as it was all in, I sped back to my original position. 'Can you put the Ultima spells back to the original configuration?' I asked as I watched the zombie stumble, golden mist rising out of its mouth.

"**Sure thing," **Shiva replied, also watching the spectacle along with the other GFs.

The zombie began to writhe around as cracks opened up on its skin. But instead of the usual black goo, golden light shone from the cracks. More and more opened up, eventually covering the zombie with the criss-cross golden tight. The monster roared in pain and defiance before it blew up, the pieces of the zombie half covered in golden light. Almost instantly the pieces of flesh dissolved and vanished, even the remnants of the black blood disappearing.

"Fortunately, the zombies themselves are also cursed with the same affliction as those they poison, so a Phoenix Down, which would revive someone knocked out, will kill them instantly," I smiled in a satisfied way as I mock dusted off my hands.


	18. Chapter 18: New Plan

**Chapter 18: New Plan**

"A fake!" Zone said with a shake of his head. "I can't believe it! The President was a fake!"

"That's right. But you should've at least counted this outcome as a possibility, right?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Rinoa asked curiously.

"Well, the President for Life Deling is coming to a city full to the brim of resistance members. No matter how you look at it, he would definitely get there using a carefully devised plan to make sure he gets there unharmed. I doubt he would have thought of something like this by himself, so maybe an advisor did. Feeding the rumour mill with the story that he was going to arrive by train so everyone would focus on that, while he sneaked in quietly, probably under the cover of darkness last night," I explained. "Though whoever thought up this plan was quite creative with the Deling's double, that's for sure."

The rest of the team and Rinoa nodded. We had gathered in the planning room once more for the debriefing on our operation. For the most part, it had gone off without a hitch . . . except for the zombie President.

"Info!" a voice shouted from outside. The door flew open, and my team momentarily started, hands dropping to our weapons, or in Zell's case, fists rising into a guard. However, we stood down as we saw it was only an overly excited Watts. I should've known it was Watts, but that shout startled me. He ran in, looking almost like a kid that needed to go to the toilet really badly, and looked around. "New info, sir!" he shouted again.

"What's the news?" Zone asked immediately.

"It's big!" Watts responded, getting even more excited. "The real reason the President's in Timber is because he's going to the Timber TV Station for some kind of announcement! Security's really tight, though. Looks like they've got at least a company of soldiers around the Station, and there's lots more patrolling the streets."

"A company? That's awfully vague," I replied. And I was right. A company is any amount between 80 and 225 soldiers. I could take them with help from my GF partners, but the collateral would be massive. And that wasn't an option. If only I had help from Carbuncle's barriers, but the little green dragon wasn't due to show up until later.

"The TV Station?" Rinoa asked, shaking her head in confusion. "Why here? They can just as easily broadcast from inside Galbadia. The only difference between the Timber station and any in Galbadia is that we still have radio systems."

"That might be it," Selphie said, sudden understanding appearing on her face. "I think the Dollet Communication Tower may have something to do with it. What do you think?" Squall shrugged, Zell rubbed his chin thoughtfully, but I nodded.

"I think you've hit the nail on the head Selphie. You're so smart," I grinned at her. She beamed back and not for the first time did I understand how powerful her Moe presence was. 'Irvine doesn't stand a chance,' I sighed internally, feeling half sorry, half envious of the cowboy.

"The comms tower?" Zone asked, not understanding. "What's that?"

"Dollet has a communications tower that can transmit and receive radio waves," Squall explained. "It's been abandoned for years, but the Galbadian army got it up and running a few days ago." Zone nodding, understanding the connection.

"It's thanks to them that we became SeeDs at all. Maybe we should go over there and thank the President personally," I grinned with an evil glint in my eye that was shared by Selphie and Zell to a lesser extent.

"And Timber's TV Station is the only one around that can still handle radio broadcasts over the air. Everyone else uses HD cable," Squall continued, ignoring me outright.

"So," Rinoa asked. "What does that mean?"

"They're using radio waves," Zone explained. "They must be trying to broadcast to regions that don't use cable."

"I know that," Rinoa replied, shaking her head. "What I want to know is what the President is going to broadcast. There must be something they're trying to say to the whole world, but what?"

"I know!" Selphie responded, hopping up and down. She held her hands out like she was hugging someone. "They want to tell everybody! Love! And peace!"

There was a flat silence from everyone in the room. 'Oy… She sounds like Vash from Trigun, just without the weird laugh,' I thought before I spoke out loud. "The only way that'll happen is on a blue moon on Friday the 13th with all the planets aligned." Everyone nodded twice in unison after I said this. Selphie, not really deflated by our scepticism, simply shrugged.

"Hey, it sounded like a good suggestion," she replied, still smiling.

"If I remember correctly," Zone spoke up, interrupting them. "Radio hasn't been used in seventeen years."

"It's been that long?" Rinoa asked, surprised. "Wouldn't it be great if the first broadcast was Timber's declaration of independence?"

"Hey!" Zone replied, nodding. "That could work!"

"Let's come up with a plan!" Rinoa said, and Watts and Zone nodded. Rinoa glanced over at us. "Give us a minute, would you?"

Then to our absolute surprise, the three of them just dropped to the floor, sitting or squatting, and began conferring among themselves.

"They look like preschool kids discussing their newest prank idea in the corner of the playground," I whispered to my friends, who giggled or chuckled softly. Squall simply shook his head slightly, but there was the tiniest hint of a smile on his face.

I watched the three for a moment as they continued whispering among themselves, making imaginary maps with their fingers and the floor. A tap on his shoulder got my attention, and I looked back to see it was Selphie who tapped me.

"What's up Selphie?" I asked gently.

"Can't we go home now?" she asked, her voice and expression somehow reminding me of a pleading kid. Moe indeed. "We did the job. What about our contract? Shouldn't you check it?"

"Guess so," I replied, not having the heart to tell her that we were with the Owls indefinitely. I walked over to where the Forest Owls were "planning" and stood over Rinoa. She noticed my shadow and looked up.

"Oh, good timing," she said, standing up. "We've got a plan."

'Seriously? Two minutes was all it took to think up a plan for liberating Timber? These guys better all have IQs of over 200 or we're all screwed,' I thought to myself, with a few of my GF partners sniggering.

"Can I check out our contract," I asked. Rinoa nodded and bent down, looking through a nearby crate filled with papers. A couple of seconds later she stood back up, holding a folder and a sheet of paper. I took it and began reading it.

"What's it say?" Zell asked as he, Squall and Selphie came forward, crowding around me.

I shook my head, not exactly sure. The thing was steeped in so much legalese that it would take an Enigma code decryption machine to make sense of it.

"I don't have the slightest clue, but I'll bet you a million Gil that it was written by the Garden Faculty," I grimaced. "Those walking, talking protocol bastards."

"Oh, yeah," Rinoa said. "That one's pretty confusing. When I told Cid I didn't understand, he gave me a new one." Rinoa took the confusing document out of my hands and handed me a new, much shorter, and much more understandable one, this written in clear print with Cid's almost illegible signature at the end.

_To the Forest Owls, _

_This SeeD deployment contract will last until Timber has achieved independence from Galbadia. Please make good use of each SeeD member. I wish you the best with your objective. Please understand that this contract is an exception, and no replacement of any SeeD members can be made. _

_Balamb Garden Headmaster Cid Kramer _

It was short, but simple.

"Until Timber's independence?" Selphie asked, shaking her head. "That is soooo vague!"

It was that too.

"Hey, you're paid professionals," Rinoa responded, putting her hands on her hips. "No complaining!"

* * *

The Forest Owls' train managed to slip into Timber unnoticed, and quickly dropped myself, the team and Rinoa off at a platform. Watts wished us luck as the train pulled out. The speeding engine almost left him behind in the Forest Owls' hurry to get out of town before the Galbadians found them.

"Do you know where the TV Station is?" Squall asked Rinoa as we walked off the platform. Rinoa nodded as we joined the flow of pedestrians walking on Timber's streets. Once again, I made note of the apparent lack of amenities or technology that was present in Balamb Garden. The city seemed to be frozen in time, decades in the past.

I also made note of something else: there were a lot of uniformed Galbadian troopers walking around on the streets, patrolling in large squads. Groups loitered around at intersections or in front of important buildings, or wandered the streets, doubtless keeping an eye open for resistance members.

"There's a lot of blue out here," Zell muttered, to which I nodded. The patrolling Galbadians would definitely be something we would have to keep an eye out for. It wouldn't do to be caught now, especially with our client in tow; we were going to have to tread softly.

"We'll try to dodge them," I ordered, and the group nodded. We knew our best defence would be stealth. I glanced back at my friends. Neither myself, nor Squall, Zell or Selphie were well known to the Galbadians in any sense, but Rinoa was another matter. Since I knew who she really was, and that some of the soldiers might recognise her as the General's daughter, I knew that I would need to find out her current popularity with Timber and Galbadia.

"Rinoa, how well-known are you?" I asked her. She blinked in surprise.

"You could say I am a bit," she replied, sounding a bit uncertain.

"Clarification never hurts, you know," I said flatly.

"The people here in Timber know me, and some of the soldiers might recognize me," Rinoa explained. "I am a somewhat familiar face."

"Are you wanted?" Squall asked her, now scanning the nearby streets for any patrolling squads. There weren't any present, at least here.

"No, not wanted," Rinoa said with a shake of her head. "It's just I might be recognized by the soldiers. But they don't know I'm a resistance member."

"Right…" I said, and then paused, spotting a small squad of Galbadians rounding a corner ahead and headed our way. A quick signal of my hand told Zell and Selphie to look inconspicuous, with Squall and I doing the same. I ducked into a nearby building, a large hotel, with Squall pulling at Rinoa behind me. I glanced back out the window as we entered the hotel to see Zell and Selphie standing in front of a store window, looking in. Zell had an arm resting comfortably around Selphie's shoulders, giving the perfect illusion of boyfriend and girlfriend.

I then turned around; Squall and I quickly scanning the lobby of the hotel for any potential threats. Aside from the receptionist, her son, a girl operating a model train in a corner, and a few scattered guests sitting around, the lobby was empty.

"Let's try to look inconspicuous," Squall began to say, but Rinoa shook her head. She gestured to the receptionist behind the desk.

"I know. She's a friend of mine," she explained, and walked toward the woman behind the desk, smiling. The woman looked up from something she was doing behind the desk, and spotted Rinoa's approach.

"Oh, Rinoa," she said with a smile as Squall and I followed our client. "I'm glad to see you. I heard about the kidnapping attempt and I was worried. Those Galbadian soldiers mentioned that they had left a trap for whoever went after them . . . ."

"Nah, my bodyguards protected me," Rinoa replied, gesturing to us. As she said so, a burst of laughter came from an open door down a nearby hallway. Squall and I glanced in the direction, to see the open door led into a small cafeteria. Inside, we spotted a number of Galbadian soldiers, sitting around on various pieces of furniture - or just lounging around as if they owned the place, busying themselves with talking and eating. Squall tapped Rinoa's shoulder, suddenly thinking that being here wasn't such a good idea.

"Rinoa, there's-"

"Galbadians?" the woman behind the desk replied. She frowned and shook her head, looking down that hallway. "Shouldn't be saying this out loud, but there's a bunch of Galbadian roughnecks staying here after the government said we should house them for the President's visit. They've taken all the rooms here. It's not safe."

"I understand. We'll be out of here soon," Rinoa said with a nod. "Thanks, Mrs. Lerando."

"Rinoa," Mrs. Lerando said with a smile. "How long have we known each other? Two years now? Call me Stephanie."

"Sorry," Rinoa replied. "Blame my father. He was always one for etiquette."

"You can't blame him," Stephanie responded. "After all-"

"Street's clear," Squall reported, looking out the window. He put a hand on Rinoa's shoulder. "We should go, now." She nodded before she thanked Mrs. Lerando again and we stepped outside onto the busy street. We quickly linked up with Selphie and Zell, who were walking out of the same store they'd been looking into. I noticed Selphie was stuffing a small plushy bear into her backpack. I raised my eyebrow at Zell.

"Had to convincingly pull off the boyfriend routine," the martial artist explained with a shrug. "Selphie insisted we do it to dodge the soldiers."

"Mmm-hmm!" Selphie nodded with a smile, hugging Zell. "My boyfriend's really sweet, isn't he?"

"You two can go on a real date when we get done with the TV Station," I replied with a sly grin, making the two blush. "And speaking of which, can we get there from here without traveling down the main streets? We need to avoid the majority of the Galbadians."

Rinoa nodded. "It's this way," she said, turning back to the alley we had ducked down a moment before. "Follow me." We followed her through the alleyway, past trash-filled bins and around a corner. The alley opened into a side street, which we quickly crossed.

"Hey, Josh," Zell muttered to my rear left as Rinoa continued to guide us. We crossed a major street and a bridge overlooking a train track.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"While we were window shopping, we overheard a few of those soldiers."

"And?"

"They're getting suspicious," Selphie said from directly behind me.

"Apparently, Watts's intelligence-gathering alerted some of the Galbadians," Zell continued. "They connected his politeness to a face, and from that, they connected him to us."

"You mean they're onto us?" Squall asked from my right.

"Yup," Selphie stated.

"Joy," I muttered, glad I had chosen to travel the side streets and avoid being seen. We exited an alley and found ourselves on another bridge, this one overlooking a number of train lines. Rinoa paused here, looking over the bridge at the tracks.

"What is it?" Squall asked as he came to a stop next to me.

"The lines are shut down," Rinoa said with a shake of her head. "Usually the local trains would be running through here. Lots of hustle and bustle . . . ."

"The Galbadian military must have shut them down," Selphie stated as she leaned over the bridge's railing. "The soldiers said they were checking the trains out. The only open line is the one leading to Galbadia Garden's southern station, for the commuters. They said something about reopening the lines after the President leaves."

"So the Galbadia Garden route is the only viable escape we have if we need to leave town," I confirmed with a nod. "We could probably bunk at Galbadia Garden itself if we need to. Rinoa, you know how to get to the platform?"

"Of course," she said. "Come on, the TV station's not too far away." With that, we set off again.

Two alleys, another bridge, and ducking through a restaurant in which everyone seemed to know Rinoa personally, we stood at a street corner. Just down the street there was a police barricade, manned by at least three platoons of fully armed Galbadian soldiers. I spotted the green uniforms of Galbadian paratroopers and special forces among the blue and red of regular soldiers and officers. Heavy machinegun emplacements and armoured cars were located behind the barricade.

Zell whistled faintly. "Uber-tight security," the martial artist whispered.

"This street leads towards the main road in front of the TV Station," Rinoa explained. "They're not letting anything get near the station. There has to be another way in . . . ." Rinoa thought for a second, furrowing her brow. "Wait, I remember! There are side roads that bypass the main streets. They might not be as well-guarded."

"Kay. We'll follow you," I said. Rinoa led us down another meandering course through alleys and buildings, until we reached a shadowy, curving alleyway that Rinoa said would open onto the main road in front of the station. We began to round the bend in the alley when I held up a hand in warning, hearing voices coloured by a drawling Galbadian (but for me it sounded American) accent up ahead. I waved the rest of the group back and crept forward silently, stopping by a dumpster.

Poking my head around the corner, I saw a group of men in blue uniforms. They weren't Galbadian regulars, however, as they wore blue jackets, pants, and hats. Each man had an old, bolt-action rifle and a pistol, as well as shoulder straps and bandoleers with extra bullets within easy reach.

"Timber militia," I reported back to my friends.

"They'll let us through," Rinoa began to say, but stopped when she heard the Galbadian voices again. I spotted a pair of red-uniformed officers step out of a nearby doorway and slam it shut. The Galbadians then gestured for the Timber militia to follow.

"Okay, we finish checking this alley and we'll leave you guys at the entrance," one of the officers stated. "I'm sure you Timber boys will be able to keep those rebels away." The officer's voice was dripping with sarcasm as the group continued up the alley, towards my position.

I held up a hand and waved my squad back; the patrol would be arriving here soon. I began to back away too, but still kept an eye and an ear on the officers. If they went to check again, I might be able to signal to the militia and sneak my friends past.

The patrol group paused, the officers checking nearby doors to see if they were locked. If they weren't, they made sure to search inside before returning. After a few minutes of checking, they were satisfied and returned to the squad of militia.

"Better keep your eyes peeled," one of the two officers growled. "Especially after we leave you yokels here. If one resistance member gets through, your kids are, well," the officer grinned evilly. "Well, dead meat." He laughed quietly as the group resumed its patrol. The militia members didn't reply, although several clenched their teeth or narrowed their eyes at the threat. I did too. There wasn't much lower than threatening one's family for someone to do what the bullies wanted.

As the patrol approached the bend, I glanced back again at my own group. Selphie had stepped into a nearby doorway, out of sight. Zell was crouching in the shadows near her, unnoticeable as well. Rinoa and Squall were nearby, by the dumpster. I gestured for them to get closer to me, before ducking behind the trash container. The two crouched beside me as the voices rounded the corner, the officers still taunting the militia members.

"I hate this," Rinoa whispered. "The Galbadians are so mean. I can't stand to see the militia treated like this." Squall nodded. He most likely wasn't unfamiliar with insults, as they would often came from Seifer, and he probably didn't like them much either. The Galbadians were unnecessarily humiliating the Timber soldiers. I absently wondered how the Galbadians would act if those guards were hardened SeeDs, fully armed to the teeth with magic and junctions, instead of lightly armed militia with families.

"Everyone here supports the resistance," one of the officers remarked off-handedly. "You guys are such fools. Imagine how much this town would thrive if you were loyal to us. No heavy taxes, no tariffs, no technology restrictions . . . I guess Timber'll be stuck in the backwoods forever."

That remark must have struck a nerve with one of the guards, as he stopped and spun to face the insulting officer.

"And you?" he asked, jabbing a finger at the Galbadian. "Are you happy with your life? Blindly following orders everyday like a damned machine, doing things you probably don't believe in? You're no better than your war robots!"

"Yeah," another replied, joining his comrade. "So what if we're undeveloped? We're not looking to thrive. We just want to stand on our own feet, to be independent and live according to the ways we believe."

"You'll never understand," a third remarked. "Having thrown away your pride and dignity. Mitch is right, you're no better than robots."

"We're not the fools," the militiaman named Mitch added. "You are." The rest of the militiamen nodded in agreement, voicing their assent.

The two officers, however, were visibly shaking with rage. One of them levelled the gun on his right arm at Mitch, who took a step back in shock. The other officer followed suit, pointing his armguns in the general direction of the other militiamen.

"You're dead!" the first officer growled.

Rinoa tensed beside me. I turned to her and grinned. "Just leave this to me," I said before making one Kage Bunshin and Kage hengeing us into extremely hot and scantily clad women. My clone was a hot long haired, electric blue eyed blonde wearing a black halter like sleeveless dress which moulded very well around her large breasts. She even had a pair of sexy glasses. I looked like Talho Yuki from Eureka Seven. I was even dressed like her when she serves on the Gekko Go. The two of us then walked out into plain sight.

"Hi boys!" we said in a sexy tone, glad that using Henge also allowed me to change my voice. The two soldiers took one look at us before lowering their guns and grinning lecherously at us. I supressed a shudder, feeling violated, and we sauntered over to the soldiers.

"Hey ladies," the first officer said as he walked up to me with the other soldier walking over to my blonde haired bombshell clone. "Can we assist you in some way?"

"Well yes. You see, my sister and I just recently arrived here, but we've seemed to have gotten lost. We're trying to find the hotel as we desperately need to take a shower. We're so sweaty from walking around this place," I complained in a very convincing manner.

As soon as the words 'hotel' and 'shower' were said, the soldier's eyes glinted with lust. I stepped forward and pressed my newly acquired large breasts against my chosen target. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my clone do the same thing. "Do you think you could come with us and help us out?" I asked with heavily intended innuendo.

"O-of course we can," the soldier I was currently looking at stuttered. The other soldier nodded furiously as he licked his lips in anticipation. I looked at my 'sister' before nodding and, as one, delivered a hard knee to the groin of our targets. Both soldiers gasped in pain before tumbling over, knocked out.

"Booya!" I cried out as we released our Kage Henge's revealing myselfs as normal. The clone and I instantly high-fived before he dispelled. I then turned around to where Squall and the others were. "You can come out now," I said. The four walked out from their hiding places, in awe at what I had done.

"How did you do that?" Rinoa asked.

"I'm just that awesome," I grinned, but quickly winked at my friends. They instantly got the message.

The militiamen around us were shocked, clutching their weapons and eyeing me cautiously. I had saved them, of course, but the militia still weren't certain what my motives were, especially seeing the monster sword on my back. But when Rinoa stepped out from behind the dumpster with everyone else, the militia stood down immediately on seeing her with us.

"Rinoa," Mitch greeted with a smile and a nod. "Are they with you?"

"Yeah," Rinoa responded with her own nod. "SeeDs sent to support the Owls."

"SeeDs?" Mitch exclaimed in surprise, and there were echoing murmurs scattered throughout the group. "Well, that explains a lot," he commented, glancing at me as I looted the soldier I had brought down. He had a sizable purse on him, so I took that, before kicking him once again, this time in the head. Mitch turned back to Rinoa.

"Thank you for helping us. I think we got a little carried away when they kept taunting us . . . ."

"We heard most of it," Rinoa said, frowning. She looked down at the two unconscious soldiers. "What about them?"

"We'll fire a few shots," Mitch explained. He looked back at his men. "Two resistance members disguised as an attractive blonde and raven head attacked our patrol, injuring the two officers because they were at the front. We opened fire before they could deliver the killing blow and drove them off." The rest of the group nodded. The story sounded reasonable, and it certainly made the militia look like heroes.

"Can we get through?" Rinoa then asked the militia leader. Mitch sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he explained.

"We need to get to the station," Squall stated bluntly as he walked up to stand next to me.

"I can't let you through," Mitch explained, voice apologetic. "Even if it is just a bluff, I can't risk the life of my daughter." There were murmurs of assent from the rest of the squad, and a few angry grumbles directed at the Galbadians.

"It's ok. We won't force you to risk your families," I said gently. Mitch and the other's eyes widened slightly, clearly not expecting mercenaries such as us to understand where they were coming from.

"However, there is an alternate entrance to the station," Mitch added, his voice hushed a bit. "The rear door of the Aphorora Pub leads to an alley that connects to a rear maintenance access to the TV Station. It's unguarded."

"Thanks!" Rinoa said with a smile. "Let's go!" she waved for us to follow her out of the alley.

"You know where Aphorora Pub is?" Zell asked as we cut across town. Rinoa nodded.

"It's pretty close to the Timber Maniacs building, right next to one of the train platforms," she said as we crossed the bridge overlooking the multiple tracks once more. "It's not too far away."

"Great. Let's do this so we can all go home," I said brightly, but knowing exactly the kind of trouble that was just on the horizon.

* * *

(AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews up people, and I'll see you later.)


	19. Chapter 19: Assault on the TV Station

**Chapter 19: Assault on the TV Station**

"I've had enough of this city!" came a shout as I led Rinoa and my squad into the Aphorora Pub. It came from a bruised and battered-looking man sitting against a door at the back wall of the pub, doubtless the door leading into the alley. The drunken man spoke with a slurred voice, the somewhat refined Dollet accent slipping through as he ranted and raved, waving a green-labelled bottle around.

The room itself looked rather trendy, featuring deep blue and purple colors on the walls, chairs, and tables, with a more brightly lit semi-circular bar. A large television was positioned high up, showing a commercial for some sports team in Galbadia with a cat-like creature with a crown on its head and waving a large microphone as their mascot. I blinked before grinning to myself. It was strange to see Cait Sith from Final Fantasy VII in this world, but then again, Bahamut was shared over each new FF title in some manner so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

"I came here to have me a good time," the man growled. "But now, the damn trains aren't running, I can't stay at any hotels because of some jerkoff official, and then those damn Galbadian soldiers took my cards!" The man took another swig. "Bastards. Think they can just push people around and get what they want through brute force. Hell, this town's an example!"

Several people from around the club joined the man with agreeing shouts. I looked to Squall to see his face in a frown. He looked at me and nodded his head at the guy. I looked back and saw that the drunk was blocking the door leading out of the pub, and we needed to get past him. The mention of cards, however, made me grin.

"Squall and I'll talk to him," I told the others, who nodded and waited by the door.

"Everything's messed up since the resistance tried to kidnap the President," the drunk muttered as Squall and I worked our way around the tables. "Thanks to them the trains are all locked down and there's soldiers all over the city, all because of their stupid asses! Stupid, boneheaded, good- for-nothing resistance . . . can't they see I'm the one suffering from their actions?"

While the drunk's earlier remarks had garnered him some sympathy from the other people in the pub, those words had suddenly lost it. There were murmurs of surprise and a little anger, which was unsurprising, since the term "resistance member" would apply to most of the people in the room. Squall paused and glanced back at Rinoa, whose eyes had widened in response to the insult directed at her.

I saw his eyes meet hers, and the expression he gave her told her it would be best to ignore the drunk's words. We then continued until we stood in front of the guy.

"Excuse me, mister? We need to get at the door. Would it be alright if you could move so we can go past?" I asked politely to the drunk. The man looked up and squinted blearily at me.

"Well at least you're nice about it, but I really don't feel like moving kid. It's comfortable here," the man grunted. I winced at the stench of alcohol coming off the drunk.

I saw Squall's hands twitch in supressed annoyance, so I reached into one of my pockets.

"By the way, are these yours?" I asked, crouching in front of the drunk, holding a deck of Triple Triad cards up for inspection.

"Yeah!" the drunk's slurred speech came back, his eyes widening at the cards. "How'd you get them?"

Squall and I looked at each other. "Found them outside," I replied, which was sort of true. We had found it, on the corpse of one of two now dead Galbadian soldiers who had challenged us outside the Aphorora Pub. They must have either recognized Rinoa or received descriptions of us from other soldiers, as they'd attacked immediately upon seeing us.

Showing the two my insane sized sword made them hesitant in attacking me, allowing Squall to deliver a cleaving strike to down the first, while Zell and Selphie took the other. A disarming grapple by Zell and two quick and shockingly powerful whacks by Selphie's nunchaku had taken the second trooper down. Luckily the deck of cards were being held in one of the soldiers hands, so I didn't have to loot the dead, which I always felt squeamish about. Knocked out is alright with me, but when they're dead, even with monsters, I felt queasy. It was weird, so I let my team mates do the looting. It sure was different from looking in a game like Dragon Age 2.

"You want them back?" I asked the drunk, who blinked in surprise.

"Are you serious?" I nodded. "Wow." The drunk then smiled. "You know, I'm feeling like a nice guy. That's not my best deck anyway, so keep it."

I saw Squall blink in surprise. I wasn't surprised. Triple Triad cards, and especially large decks, were not something most people parted with easily. The cards were very valuable. That this drunk had given the deck away was very significant.

"You sure?" Squall asked while I nodded.

"Hell yeah!" the drunk replied, laughing. "Don't worry, my brother owns a pub in Dollet called the Shining Bomber. He's loaded with cards. He'll replace 'em for me." The drunk then began to get up, but his coordination was obviously suffering from the booze he'd been chugging. He almost collapsed back against the door, but we caught him and helped the badly drunk man move out of the way.

"Thanks, kids," he responded as we helped him sit down. I grinned. "No problem. Now don't drink too much or you'll ruin your insides," I said. Squall simply nodded before he waved the rest of my group on. We exited out the back door of the pub and into the alley.

"I didn't know you two could be so diplomatic," Rinoa remarked as she led us down the trash-lined path, tall buildings looming up around our small band of heroes.

"We're SeeDs," Squall replied simply. "We're trained to succeed."

"Hey Squall, you want these?" I asked as I held out the deck of maybe 20 cards to him.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I suck at the game. Always have. It's not that I don't understand the rules, it's just because I have lousy luck with winning the game and I can't build a good solid deck since I lose more than I win," I replied. And it was true. Even playing the game in FF8 on the PlayStation 2 I sucked. It was like I was inflicted with the same curse Tsunade had on her gambling luck in Naruto. I handed Squall the cards and he pocketed them.

"Thanks," he said simply.

"No probs," I replied, smiling.

We moved down the alley for a short while until we passed a small, rusted iron gate. We came to a stop, and looked up at the tall building looming above. The structure was huge, many stories tall, with a series of metal steps leading up and past it, doubtless the maintenance access Mitch had told us about. The building featured a giant television screen at the top, with scrolling red gibberish running up the screen.

"This is . . . kinda creepy," Rinoa remarked as we walked up the stairs and stopped at the catwalk at the top. In front and to our left, we could see the skyline of the city of Timber stretching out, grays and blues stretching away, but Rinoa's attention was focused on the giant television and the gibberish. I afforded it a look, and, watching the red letters ascending up the black screen, I couldn't help but feel a bit of a chill as well. I knew exactly the cause and the words on the screen were, and that made the chill I felt intensify.

"It's noise," Squall commented, recognizing what he was seeing, if not comprehending it. "It's jamming signals, broadcast over most of the frequencies. It's what denies us access to radio waves and communication. Something has to be done about it before Galbadia can transmit over the air."

Rinoa nodded, and the we watched the screen for a moment, mesmerized by the rising red characters. The clanging footsteps on the stairs below snapped us all out of it, and we spun around, readying our weapons in case of a threat.

It turned out to be another false alarm, as the person was only Watts, running up the stairs after the group.

"New intelligence!" Watts shouted as he stopped a level below where we stood. He paused for a second, panting. "The guards are on high alert now. The President is in the studio, and they've got the place sealed tight. No way you guys can get through, sir!" I nodded at the rebel's words. "There goes that plan out the window," I muttered to Squall, who nodded in return.

"So we can't just rush in," Rinoa commented. "We've got to come up with a new plan then. When the President's gone, maybe the guards will be too? That's when we can do our broadcast. Maybe not as influential, but it's better than nothing, right?" Squall and I turned to Rinoa. I was surprised again by the very informal and hesitant way she seemed to be going about this operation. Even though I knew what to expect as I had played the game many times, I was still surprised.

"Whatever," Squall said, shrugging. "We'll fight based on your decision," he added, to which Zell and Selphie nodded. However, they didn't seem exactly eager to do so. Neither was I but I decided to stay out of this.

"It's our job," Zell added with a shrug. "Tell us to go, we go. Even if it is suicide."

Rinoa considered their words, and apparent willingness to dive headlong into an impossible battle. She looked down at the catwalk below their feet, and shook her head.

"Acting on our decision?" she asked in a serious tone. "How easy that must be to not think about what you're doing. To jump at our orders regardless."

I saw Squall's eyes narrow. 'And here we go,' I thought.

"Call it what you will," he replied. "We're SeeDs. Mercenaries. It's our job. You pay us, we do your dirty work. All we care about is making sure you succeed with our help, and then getting paid." He looked away, off towards the city skyline. "But I find it hard to believe you could do that," he added quietly.

"What?" Rinoa asked, shocked. "What do you mean?"

"Forget it," Squall replied, shaking his head. "Just forget I said anything."

"No," Rinoa replied, scowling and shaking her head. "Tell me. That's an order."

"Fine," Squall hissed, turning to face her. "How serious are you, really? The three of you plop down on the floor to discuss strategy, and crank out a plan to liberate a nation in five minutes. On top of that, you can't make any decisions without our input. How do you think we feel, working for such an organization? Do you think we like serving a group that acts like kids?"

I could tell Squall's words had had an impact. Rinoa looked away, her lower jaw working in anger as she digested Squall's harsh criticism. I turned to Zell and Selphie, gauging their thoughts. While they definitely looked like they agreed with Squall's assessment, they didn't look too happy about his commentary on the resistance group.

"Hey," I whispered to Squall. "Maybe going a little too far there." He looked at me and seemed to realise that I was right. While I also agreed with Squall, there was such a thing as subtly.

"You know," Rinoa remarked quietly behind us. Squall sighed and turned back, to see a much more serious expression on Rinoa's face. "Maybe this was just a big mistake. I thought everything would turn out fine once SeeD came to help us." She turned around and looked out over the city.

"I guess I was wrong. You're hired. It's not like you're one of us. You guys think it's all a game to us, right?" Rinoa shook her head. "It's not. We're serious. So serious, it hurts. Watts and Zone lost their fathers when Galbadia invaded; Deling murdered them himself. And the rest of us have been hurt too. We want Timber freed, no matter what it takes. But-"

"We don't think this is a game to you," I interrupted her, causing her to look at me. "It's just that we don't think you're really planning this operation to be as airtight as possible. Liberating a city like Timber needs months of planning, strategizing, information gathering, spying, infiltrating, info feeding and a few other things before acting on it. You also need to know your own capabilities before going ahead. We thought you had this all taken care of, and simply needed the muscle and manpower to implement the strategy. But instead we're treated to plans that have been cooked like two-minute noodles. There's a saying. 'Know the enemy, known thyself and you needn't fear the outcome of a hundred battles.' You need to have these things before taking on a plan like liberating Timber." I then took a deep breath and slung my arm around Squall in a brotherly like manner. "I'm sure this is what Squall was trying to say earlier. He can just get a bit too blunt about it sometimes."

Rinoa looked between me and Squall, who was trying – and failing – to shrug my arm off him. She then nodded. "I understand. We'll cancel the plan and fall back for now," Rinoa stated. "No way we can take them on, right?"

"Well, actually we can. Or rather, I can. But then there would be an insane amount of collateral damage and I very much doubt you would want Galbadia outta here at the sacrifice of the whole city," I said. I, of course, was thinking about turning lose my GF friends. But like I said, the collateral would be massive.

Rinoa nodded. "That's right. Okay, we'll disperse and meet back at the base train in about two hours. I'll have Watts send word to you when it arrives."

My squad and I nodded in understanding as Rinoa spun and hurried down the steps. I turned back to my team.

"We'll let Rinoa get ahead before we follow, so we don't raise-"

I stopped as I noticed out the corner of my eye that the red and black screen of seemingly gibberish suddenly turned into static.

"They're broadcasting!" Selphie shouted.

The image on the giant television resolved, showing the inside of a studio. In the centre of the image, between a pair of black flags proudly displaying the Galbadian symbol, there was a large podium. A half-dozen microphones were set on the podium.

We watched as several technicians scrambled about, finishing last-second work. The techs then cleared out as a somewhat pudgy man in a striped suit stepped onscreen and stood behind the podium. He tapped one of the microphones a couple of times.

"Testing," he called, speaking into the microphones. "One, two, testing, testing . . . ." He glanced off screen as someone said something, and then turned to face the camera, suddenly becoming excited. "Oh! P-people of the world! Can you see me? Can you hear me? This is incredible! This is not a recording; this is an actual live broadcast over the air! It's been seventeen years since we've been able to do this!"

A shout from off screen stole the announcer's attention, and he paused for a second, face reddening slightly.

"Oh, yes," he said, more subdued. "Please excuse me; I seem to have lost my manners. We would like to present to you today a message from the lifelong President of Galbadia, Vinzer Deling. Ladies and gentlemen, President Deling." The announcer gestured offscreen, and then stepped away from the podium. From the left side entered the President himself, looking exactly like the greying, slightly overweight zombie imposter we had encountered on the train.

Deling stood behind the podium and looked straight at the camera, as if evaluating his viewers. His dark eyes searched, hidden among the thick wrinkles in his skin. His greying black hair was immaculately combed, and the suit he wore was equally spotless. The dictator seemed every part the politician he was reputed to be.

Finally, Deling spoke.

"Greetings, people of the world," Vinzer Deling began, his voice ringing loudly and clearly. "I am obviously Vinzer Deling, lifelong President of the Galbadian Republic. I come before you today to make the following proposition." He paused, and looked into the camera. The President held up a hand, as if letting something rest in his open palm.

"We, the people of this world, have the power to end all wars. There is hope for peace between all nations, great and small."

"See, see!" Selphie suddenly burst out. Zell, Squall and I glanced at her. "It's a peace proposal to the world! I knew it!" We frowned, not exactly happy that Selphie had seemingly been right all along.

"Unfortunately," Deling continued, holding out his hands as if he were offering friendship. "There are some trifling problems between Galbadia and other nations. They must be resolved before we can draft any proposals for world peace. I plan to convene with the leaders of these nations to solve these problems." Deling paused as there was a shout and something breaking somewhere beyond the camera's point of view. He blinked, and then continued.

"At this time, allow me to introduce the ambassador who will be my representative at the conference."

"What?" Zell muttered. "All this trouble to announce an ambassador?" Squall nodded as Deling paused dramatically before announcing the ambassador.

"But who is the ambassador? Who is so important that their announcement to the world requires a full-scale war?" Squall asked me.

"The ambassador," Deling stated, holding up a hand and gesturing off screen, "is the Sorceress . . . ." Deling smiled and trailed off, pausing dramatically again. He opened his mouth to state the Sorceress's name, but even as he was about to announce her, Squall's own mouth had opened in shock. He then turned to me, his eyes questioning.

"Hey, don't look at me. I'm on your side, remember?" I said. Squall paused before nodding apologetically.

Our eyes returned to the screen as, in the midst of Deling's dramatic pause, there could be heard the sound of wood splintering and glass shattering. There were shouts heard off camera and, more surprisingly, the sound of metal ringing on metal and a pair of death cries.

A white-coated figure suddenly leaped into view, causing the shocked President to fall back. The figure brandished a slender, black and silver gunblade. As another Galbadian soldier charged in and was quickly cut down, I could make out his features.

"Seifer?" Squall shouted in surprise as a pair of Galbadians grabbed Seifer from behind, looping their arms underneath his to restrain him.

The blonde cadet smirked and, as a third soldier rushed him, broke free of their grasp with almost casual ease, throwing one man aside and elbowing the second in the face hard enough to hurl him away. In the commotion, someone knocked the camera over, the image rotating ninety degrees as the camera fell on its side.

The third soldier pulled out a handgun, only to be knocked aside as another blonde figure rushed in. She spun around, snapping her whip at a pair of sword-wielding troops as Seifer sprang at the President. The blonde cadet placed his gunblade across Deling's throat as he stood behind the President, using him as a shield.

"Instructor Trepe?" Zell exclaimed as Quistis stood between the soldiers and Seifer.

"Stay back!" she ordered to the soldiers, as more came into view around the sideways camera.

"Josh, what do we do?" Zell asked, frantically as more Galbadians rushed into view, some edging closer to the President and his captor. Seifer leaned closer to the President's ear and said something, likely a threat or order. The President nodded and stood still in response.

"For the last time, stay back!" Quistis commanded the soldiers surrounding them. "You're only going to provoke him!"

I was about to speak, but Quistis spun to the overturned camera.

"Timber team, are you watching?" she shouted. "Hurry to the station! You have permission! I need your help!"

"Alright people! Let's haul ass!" I ordered to my team. The other three SeeDs nodded as Selphie and Zell ran up the staircase to their left and joined Squall and I, before we moved as a unit. The catwalk turned to the left as it rounded a building, and led straight to the TV Station, which was alight with spotlights and shining illumination, looking totally out of place in the Timber skyline.

"Before we crash the party, I need to remind everyone not to mention Garden. If the President hears and somehow escapes, he can very easily retaliate with a missile attack," I said as I thundered down the catwalk, my guns already in my hand.

"Rodger!" the three SeeDs behind me replied. I smiled. 'That at least might help to keep Zell quiet while we're inside. I hope.'

A few minutes later we had entered that station. Following the trail of bodies Seifer had left in his wake, we quickly found the studio where Seifer was holding Deling hostage. The area showed signs of damage, with the bodies of a half-dozen bodyguards sprawled among broken and scattered electronics. I scanned the area, to see the remaining soldiers collected at the far side of the room, conferring with several officers. Quistis was standing between them and Seifer and Deling.

"The cameras are offline," Quistis told me as soon as she spotted us. "The soldiers are keeping their distance, like I advised them. But we have to restrain Deling quickly!" I nodded, scanning the area for some heavy-duty cable we could use. I knew what was going to happen in a few moments, but it was better to look the part. If we could restrain Deling and free up Seifer, we would have a better chance to escape. But we would have to move quickly, as Deling's soldiers were doubtless surrounding the TV Station even now.

I spotted some cable and pointed Selphie to it. She nodded and moved to take a bundle and cut it with her backup combat knife. While Selphie did that, Squall's attention was on Seifer and Deling.

Seifer was alternating glares towards the Galbadians with softer looks at us. He wasn't giving Squall the usual superior look, but instead was regarding us as his comrades, which was something that surprised me, and by the looks of it, Squall as well. Seifer was taking this situation seriously, for once.

"What do you think you're doing?" Squall demanded to Seifer.

"Obvious, ain't it?" Seifer barked. "Resistance makes a kidnapping attempt on Deling. Which means you want him. What are you planning to do with this guy?"

"Planning to do?" Squall echoed, before his face showed comprehension. Obviously he remembered the conversation he and I had with Rinoa after we had woken her up before the President Kidnapping briefing.

"Oh, yeah, I get it," Zell said, nodding. "You're Rinoa's-"

"Shut your damn mouth, Chicken-Wuss!" Seifer cut him off with a snap, scowling viciously at Zell's almost-remark. His quick and forceful tone angered Zell to a degree, judging by the martial artist's clenched jaw and trembling hands. As Zell set his jaw tightly, Quistis turned towards us.

"He broke out of the disciplinary room," she said quietly, so only I, Zell and Squall could hear. "He injured many in the process." I shook my head at his actions an Squall nodded, but Zell's face reddened at the news of Seifer's actions. He looked back up at Seifer, who still stood behind the President, although he was edging further back, towards an open door leading out of the studio.

"You stupid idiot!" Zell shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Seifer. The cadet rolled his eyes as the Galbadian bodyguards at the far end of the room looked up, hands dropping to holstered and sheathed weapons.

"Zell, calm down," Squall said, but the martial artist ignored his words. He glanced to the side as Selphie returned with a bundle of cut cables.

"Instructor, I know!" Zell continued, turning to Quistis, but I was ready. I shot to Zell's side and slapped my hand over him mouth. "Don't get too worked up Zell! Remember what I said about revealing information on a need-to-know basis?" I whispered to him. His shocked face softened as he realised how close he had come to making a stupid mistake. He nodded slowly before I removed my hand from his mouth. Stepping back to stand next to Squall, I caught a nod from Seifer, a clear Seifer way of saying thanks. I nodded back.

However it seemed that Deling's inelegance was as good as his political knowhow. Or that he had gained information on our mission somehow.

"I'm guessing you are all from Garden," he said, smiling in a superior way. His guess was confirmed at the sudden tightening of Zell's fist, Selphie's soft gasp and Quistis's quick glance at the President. Seifer's eyes narrowed while only Squall and I remained unaffected on the surface. But inside, I was surprised at this outcome. Despite my decision to stop Zell from blurting out the information that we were SeeDs and that we were working out from a Garden, Deling had still been able to go out on a limb by guessing our affiliations and using his political skills to confirm his guess from our small reactions. 'He's good,' I eventually thought.

"**He is indeed. He must be an expert manipulator,"** Diablos said.

"**It's probably why he's remained in power for so long," **Hyôrinmaru added.

"**Is it possible that he might have gotten wind of our mission?"** Kyuubi asked.

'It's possible, yes. But I would then wonder who his source was. But we can think about that later,' I replied.

"Should anything happen to me, the entire Galbadian military will undoubtedly crush Garden." There were nods from the assembled soldiers as they understood their implied orders.

"You can let go of me now," Deling remarked to Seifer.

"What, and lose a good meat shield?" Seifer responded, shaking Deling's shoulder. "Instructor and Mr. Leader!" Seifer looked at Quistis, then me. "Handle this mess!"

Then he pulled Deling back, towards the door. Quistis began to follow, but at that moment the Galbadian soldiers began to rush forward, swords sliding out of sheaths and rifles rising.

"Quistis, you're with me!" I said as I moved to her side. "Squall, Zell and Selphie, you distract the soldiers." They nodded, exploding into action. As one soldier approached, a shard of ice appeared above Selphie and struck him down, shattering into a thousand glittering needles and deadly frigid air. Two more Galbadians were met by Zell, who quickly disarmed and pounded the two men, shattering bones and cracking skulls.

A bolt of lightning from the ceiling struck the floor as rain inexplicably fell inside the studio. With a flash of awe-inspiring light, Quetzacotl came forth to rain his fury on the Galbadians. As the eyeless snake-bird entity unleashed its lightning, Quistis and I took this moment to slip by the soldiers and hurrying out of the door Seifer and Deling had disappeared through.

As soon as we arrived in the next room, we saw Seifer, still holding the President at his side with his gunblade to his neck. But there was another person in the room. And from what I was feeling from her, she was very powerful.

There stood a slender wisp of a woman, clad in a long, form-fitting dress. The dress was a deep shade of purple at the top, but gradually lightened the lower down her body it went, until it was nearly pink around her ankles. Her dress covered her entire body, with a large amount of cleavage, upper chest, and her neck showing; her skin an almost milky white. Around her shoulders, the dress featured thick, heavy black fur. Her fingers were oddly elongated, although I was sure that was due to her gloves. She wore a crimson beak-like mask over her face, and was ornamented with a corkscrewing white horn on the left side of her head, with a second, straighter horn of a darker reddish-purple shade rising above that.

It was Sorceress Edea. Once Cid Kramer's wife, now a slave to Ultimecia's iron will.

I had no more time to study her as almost as soon as we had entered the room, Edea launched magic at us, most likely a type that would disable or freeze us, allowing her to continue talking to Seifer. But I rose my hand up toward the incoming blast and, focusing my own sorcerer powers into my hand, stopped the onslaught of magical energy. Edea's head tilted to the side slightly as I successfully blocked the spell. I kept my hand ready, but I was slightly out of breath. I hadn't had much time to practice using my sorcerer powers aside from that slicing shockwave I used on Ifrit in the Fire Cavern, and Edea's spell was much stronger than I thought it was going to be. Edea then recast the same spell and again I blocked it, but this time she kept the magic going in a continuous stream at me, leaving me with no option other than to block it. She then continued her conversation with Seifer as if she wasn't attacking me at all. That spoke volumes on how powerful she truly was. I kept up the guard, but my strength was slowly being sapped away.

I couldn't hear what Edea was saying, but Seifer spoke loudly and angrily, speaking the same words he had said in the game. About not being a boy and all the rest. To be honest I was too busy concentrating on blocking the magic, and I was getting tired.

Then Seifer released Deling, who immediately scrambled away, disappearing out of a side door. Neither Seifer nor the Sorceress paid him any more attention than a mouse.

"Come with me to a place of no return," the Sorceress said to him. Seifer nodded. "Bid farewell to your childhood."

At that point I felt Squall and the others barge through behind me and stop to look up at Seifer and Edea. She and Seifer turned to face us. Seifer raised Hyperion in a salute, probably at Squall, and the woman gestured to us. Purple energy shot out of her hand and I raised a second hand to block the spell. But then the whole room turned white, blinding me. When the light faded I collapsed to my hands and knees, breathing hard from exhaustion.


	20. Chapter 20: Getting Outta Dodge

**Chapter 20: Getting Outta Dodge**

I continued to heave heavily as I got my strength back. It was now very obvious that I was never at Edea's level to begin with and that I would most likely have a hard battle awaiting me at Deling city. I needed to train and explore what I was capable of before that showdown happened.

At that point the door Deling had escaped through burst open. I was still too tired to do much except look up but my team surrounded me and started to draw their weapons, but then stood down as we saw who the intruder was.

"Hey!" Rinoa called. She glanced out the door, and then looked back at us, her eyes scanning the room. I noted that Rinoa was fully armed now, and, I realized a moment later, accompanied by Angelo. The dog sniffed the air, her ears going flat, as if she sensed danger. I couldn't help but agree that this area wasn't secure. It was either that or she sensed the lingering magic in the air.

"We need to get out of here," I grunted as I rose to my feet, only to fall to my knees again. "Shit! I didn't think blocking that bombardment would take so much out of me." I felt two arms slip around my back and under my arms before heaving me to my feet. I looked to see Squall and Zell beside me.

"Thanks you guys," I smiled tiredly.

"No problems Josh! You're our leader. No way we were going to leave you on the ground," Zell grinned with Squall nodding.

"Right. Well I still say we need to get out of here. This place will be swarming with soldiers soon," I said.

"What are you doing here?" Squall asked Rinoa as we crossed over to her.

"I saw the broadcast," Rinoa explained. She looked around the room once more, her expression turning concerned. "Where's Seifer?"

"I don't know," Squall replied. "But Josh is right; we can't stay here. Let's move." Rinoa reluctantly nodded and led the way out of the studio.

"He'll be okay, right?" Rinoa asked quietly as we entered another hallway. Squall remained silent as we rounded a corner and passed through another empty studio. I could tell he was concerned with what had happened to Seifer - though Squall would never openly admit it.

We soon found our way outside. The maintenance access was still unguarded, although a squad of blue-clad Timber militia were working their way up the catwalk. For an instant, I thought that we would have to injure or incapacitate the militia in order to keep up appearances, but we stood down at a wave from Rinoa. She conferred with the leader of the militia squad, who simply nodded and waved us on.

"They found our base while we were in the city," Rinoa commented quietly as we passed the giant television screen. "It's been completely destroyed." The news surprised everyone except me, obviously.

"And everyone else?" Selphie asked, realizing that only Rinoa had come to meet them. Rinoa suppressed a giggle.

"Don't worry about them," she replied. "They're good at hiding. They saw the attack coming and evacuated. They even managed to get Angelo for me."

Soon we were advancing down the alleyway, heading back through the Aphorora Pub.

"I need to get away from Timber for a while," Rinoa stated as we came into sight of the pub. "They've gotten some information from the train, and while it's not enough to point to me, if I get detained…"

"They'll ID you, right?" Zell finished, to Rinoa's nod.

"Is there a safe place you can take me?" Rinoa asked me.

Now of course I knew where to taker her, but I still had to think it over. Was Galbadia Garden still the safest place to go? Well, it's not like we had a choice. We needed to go there to get new orders and meet up with Irvine. There was a strange twinge in my head when I thought of him and images flooded into my head of him as a kid with the rest of the 'Orphanage Gang'.

'What the?' I thought. 'What in the hell was that?'

"This is an order. I am your client, remember?" Rinoa added.

"I'm thinking," I replied irritably before sighing. No choice. "Well go to my old stomping grounds at Galbadia Garden as soon as we can get out of here."

Rinoa smiled and patted my shoulder in thanks. "Don't thank me just yet. Galbadia could be targeting every Garden out there with missiles thanks to the President's accurate observations," I muttered quietly to which Squall, Rinoa and Zell heard me as we passed through the door into the Aphorora Pub.

"Rinoa!" A rather heavyset woman called out from behind the bar, where she was mixing drinks. "Thank Hyne you're all right. Did you get your people out of there?" Rinoa nodded, gesturing to us.

"I heard your base had been destroyed too," the woman added. She glanced at the equally heavyset owner of the pub, who nodded. The woman stepped out from behind the bar. "You and your friends had better come to my place until things settle down."

"Okay," Rinoa replied with a nod. She gestured for us to follow her, and we quickly cleared out of the Aphorora Pub, following the woman.

We passed through the streets without incident, evading the numerous blue-uniformed patrols that rushed about, combing the city for the rebels and us. After passing through a few alleys and crossing a busy street, we arrived at the woman's home, a two story household next to Timber's biggest newspaper and magazine publisher, Timber Maniacs. I saw that the building dwarfed the tiny house next door as we entered.

"Well, this is it," the woman stated as we entered the modest home. We passed an entry hallway and entered a mid-sized dining room and kitchen, with hallways branching off to the rest of the first floor and a staircase leading upstairs.

"I'll head out and keep an eye open," the woman added, walking to the door. "I'll let you know if anything changes. 'Til then, make yourselves at home." She then stepped into the entry hall to keep watch.

"Thanks, Chief!" Rinoa said, to which the woman simply smiled and waved the gratitude away.

"No problem," she replied as she disappeared out into the hallway.

I sighed as I sank into a chair at the table, leaning my sword against a wall. "Anyone got any food? I'm hungry. Gotta eat to regain some energy," I asked.

Quistis passed me some biscuits and as I looked at her to thank her, more images flashed through my mind. Mostly of when Quistis was a young girl at the orphanage.

'There it is again. What is going on?' I wondered.

"Thanks Quistis," I smiled before I began to chow down.

"So… Chief?" Squall asked.

"She's leader of the Forest Fox group," Rinoa replied, smiling. "You know everyone here's a rebel, though my group's the only one very active at the moment. But it would be best if we stayed here for a while anyway."

"Why couldn't you be the Forest Foxes? Owls are cool, but Foxes are just plain awesome," I grinned. Everyone smiled in various degrees at this.

* * *

Rinoa had, at the Forest Fox's Chief's urging, prepared some food for us over the next hour. During that time, Squall and I had gone up to the second floor, with Squall taking up a watch there. Not that we didn't trust the Chief to keep an eye out, but two views scanning for trouble was better than one.

While Squall acted as our extra sentry, I sat on the bed with my legs crossed and meditated to help regain my strength quicker. It was a little too distracting downstairs to do this as everyone was conversing quietly with each other.

"I need to experiment with my powers, Squall," I eventually said.

Squall, keeping his eyes on the street below, replied, "How so?"

"Well, Edea didn't even break a sweat with that attack while for me keeping up that barrier was quite taxing for me. Either my powers are meant for attacking and dodging only, with defence being quite weak, or I've yet to realise my full potential as a sorcerer. I need to explore what I can do or our next confrontation is going to be very frantic or, at the worst, I'll be destroyed," I said softly.

"I see," Squall replied.

"**Don't worry so much Josh. Remember, you have one big advantage over her,"** Shiva said.

'Oh? And what's that?' I asked, genuinely curious.

"**You have us. We will stand by your side throughout everything,"** the Ice Queen replied.

"**Shiva is right. I will also stay with you and help as much as I possibly can. You've treated us with respect, but you don't let that stop you from treating us like good friends. I've felt more at home with you then I do at the Fire Cavern. Like I've found my place; where I truly belong. Which is right here, facing the dangers of the world, together as your friend,"** Ifrit said.

'Wow Ifrit! Never thought you would think that of me,' I replied in awe of his statement.

"**I feel the exact same. You are a true friend to us GFs,"** Amaterasu added.

"**I must say, I'm starting to understand what these three see in you,"** Diablos said.

"**I agree with the demon. You kick ass so stylishly. That's aces in my books,"** Dante replied.

"**I thought you were just another human wanting to use us and our powers to get what you wanted. When Shiva vouched for you I was curious and so I joined you to see if you were truly honourable. I now see what she sees in you. So I am very happy to fully commit to your cause,"** Bahamut said.

"**I've never seen my sister so happy with anyone. And so you automatically gained my respect. But while I've been traveling with you, I'm happy to say that you've gained my friendship. It would be my honour to stay with you until world peace is achieved,"** Hyôrinmaru said.

"**Well I liked the kind of person you were straight away. You rescued me from that prison. And so I'm with my sister on this,"** Kyuubi said.

There were a few moments of silence before I smiled. 'Thank you everyone. Thank you so much.'

Unknown to the others and myself, there was a blonde GF who was listening in on what was being said in my head from downstairs.

After about an hour, the Chief's daughter showed up at the house, and relieved Squall of his duty as a lookout. She had also brought word to us that the Galbadian army was starting house-to-house searches.

As we returned to the first floor, I noticed Zell was working on the water heater in the kitchen's corner, apparently out of both boredom and because the thing was malfunctioning. The rest of the group loitered about, Rinoa looking out a window while Selphie and Quistis sat at the table. Angelo was curled up in a corner, sound asleep.

"I still don't get it," Selphie said to Rinoa. "What did Seifer come here for? It was so out of the blue."

"I think I know, now," Rinoa replied. She turned around and faced us. "He came to help us, the Forest Owls." Squall blinked in surprise for an instant, before nodding. "That makes sense. Seifer was the one who arranged for the mission. It seems obvious he would do whatever it took to see the mission complete," he said in a rare display of public insight.

"So, that was what he was talking about," Quistis murmured, nodding in her own understanding. "Seifer kept telling me he was doing it for someone."

"I talked about it a lot with him," Rinoa explained, walking across the room. Her eyes seemed to be set on a time and place far removed from the kitchen. "He agreed with me wholeheartedly. He kept saying that Galbadia had no right to control Timber, and that he'd help me someday. I knew he meant it, but to come all this way like he did…" Rinoa looked around at us. "He did it for us. Please, don't think too badly of him."

The front door suddenly rattled as someone pounded on it roughly. Our hands went to our weapons as Angelo suddenly awoke, rushing to Rinoa's side protectively. At the same moment, the Chief's daughter bounded down the stairs.

"The Galbad-" she began to say, but was cut off by a shout.

"Hey!" a loud, gruff shout from outside could be heard. "Anybody in here?" The Chief hurried to the door, opening a small window and glaring at the soldiers outside.

"What?" she shouted angrily, in an angry-mother-like tone, the kind of one used to scold children. "What is this? I have two young children in here! Don't scare them!"

"But, ma'am-" the soldier began to protest.

"Honestly, you should be ashamed of yourself!" the Chief continued. "Big, bad soldiers, going around, frightening little children!"

"I meant n-"

"Was that what you read on the recruitment posters? That you'd spend all your time barging in on mothers and frightening babies? What kind of soldier are you?"

"Upstairs," the Chief's daughter hissed. "Hurry!" I nodded as I retrieved my sword and waved my team up, all the while grinning at the tongue lashing the Galbadian soldier was getting. We quickly scrambled up the stairs, but Rinoa paused at the foot of the staircase.

"Will she be okay?" she asked. The girl simply smiled.

"My mom'll be fine. The legend goes," she quickly explained, "that during the Galbadian invasion, my mother took down many soldiers with her strength, cooking, and beauty. She can keep them busy with the best of them. Don't worry."

"That beauty part sure makes it seem like a legend," Selphie commented from the top of the stairs.

* * *

The Forest Fox Chief and her daughter kept the Galbadian soldiers busy with a withering barrage of accusations and questions while I, the team and our client waited on the second floor. Squall kept an eye on the small squad of men outside, who kept persistently trying to convince the Chief to let them in. Selphie was sprawled out on the single bed in that room. I was sitting on the floor with my back against the side of the bed, absently scratching Angelo behind her ears, while Zell continued his silent repairs on the water heater, working on the section of the device on this floor. Quistis and Rinoa continued their talk about Seifer from downstairs.

"I wonder if he's all right?" Rinoa asked absently. Quistis chuckled. "What?"

"He was so angry when he found out…" Quistis explained. "When he knew it was only you three dispatched to Timber. 'They could be going up against the entire Galbadian army!' he said." Quistis shook her head. "'And they send three rookies? Hyne damn it! Let me outta here!' I never thought he was serious about it."

"Seifer's always serious. Shouldn't you know this by now?" I asked. She smiled a little sheepishly at this before going back to being contemplative. "What's going to happen to him?" Quistis thought out loud a few moments later. Squall glanced back at her and shrugged.

"He may already be dead," Squall deadpanned. Both Quistis and Rinoa turned their gazes his way, and a surprising degree of shock was in Rinoa's eyes. However I decided to but in.

"I don't think so. You weren't there when Quistis and I went after him in the TV station. The Sorceress was trying to convince Seifer to join her. Or at least, that's what it looked like to me. What about you Quistis?"

She tilted her head to the side. "That's what it sounded like to me as well. You think he's switched sides?"

"Anything is possible when there's a sorceress in the mix," I replied.

"Speaking of sorceresses, what was that magic you used to block her attack? Some sort of Protect spell I had never seen before," she asked.

'I guess I'm gonna have to tell her now, as well as Rinoa. I wonder what their reactions will be,' I asked myself.

"That's because I'm the first male sorcerer to be born into this world. I was able to protect us by using raw magic, and not the para-magic you guy's use," I explained. I watched as Quistis's eyes widened at this truth.

"That's why you were able to meld two Bizzard spells into one and fuse it to your sword," she said.

"Wait! You melded two Bizzard spells together and then fused it to your sword? That's super advanced magic manipulation! I can't even do that and I was the best in my class with elemental manipulation," Selphie gasped.

"That's right. Now before you start raving at me, know that I'm on your side. I'm not interested in ruling the world or destroying it, or other cliché things that bad guys do. Ok?"

Quistis looked like she was thinking it over before she nodded. "I believe you."

"Thanks. What about you Rinoa?" I asked.

"Well, so far you haven't been a bad guy to any of us. So I guess you're ok in my books," she replied.

"Well good. I would show you proof of my sorcerer heritage, but it's a bit crowded in here. I'll show you guys on the way to Galbadia Garden," I said. Rinoa and Quistis nodded before we fell silent again.

I then decided to tell everyone what was imbedded in the radio interference and the cause. I don't know why I wanted to, just that I felt like it. "I know what the words say that were in the radio interference just before the announcement," I said simply, with Squall, Quistis, Selphie and Zell whipping their heads to me.

"Really?" Zell asked, speaking up for the first time since the TV station.

"Well? What does it say?" Selphie asked.

"It says… 'I will never let you forget about me'," I said and watched the reactions of those around me. Zell's face looked contemplative, but also held a small amount of apprehension. Selphie shivered, her face showing that she was trying to understand what the words were telling them. Quistis looked thoughtful, and Squall had an eyebrow raised, but that was it. Rinoa simply looked confused.

"What does that mean?" she asked in the end.

"When I was at Galbadia Garden, I did a little studying into the existence of the radio interference," I began to explain. "What I'm about to say sounds a lot like a complicated ghost story, and is based much on unconfirmed rumours, but try to keep an open mind.

Sorceress Adel rose to power in the country of Esthar during the time period between the destruction of the Centra Empire and the advent of the Sorceress War. Precisely how she became the ruler of Esthar is unknown, though it is my belief that Adel cooperated with the former head of Esthar before taking his place forcefully, possibly through assassination.

Adel began what is now known as the Sorceress War; when she pitted the forces of Esthar against Galbadia in what is presumed the first step towards world domination. Galbadia fought back fiercely and instead of being conquered, expanded its own power and became a dominant nation in its own right.

At the same time, Adel was planning for the future. Since a sorceress must pass on her power to another upon death before she can rest, Adel intended to find herself a successor. To facilitate this, Adel ordered the mass kidnapping of hundreds of young girls, planning to choose one with the most potential and raise her to become the next tyrant of Esthar.

It is unsure whether she was successful, but it seemed that there was resistance, and that the tide of power turned at one point toward the resistance. They trapped Adel in something that sealed her powers, body and consciousness and blasted the tomb, so to speak, high into orbit.

It wasn't without side effects, however; as Adel's Tomb causes the worldwide radio interference, which renders most wireless technology useless since 17 years ago. But it seems that Adel's subconscious projects a message into the interference which says 'I will never let you forget about me', over and over, without any spaces between the words and all in capital letters. That's why no-one has seen the message. But I deciphered it, however I kept it to myself, as I doubt anyone would believe me."

There was silence as the four teenagers let this sink in. Quistis, Zell and Selphie looked horrified at this 'theory' I had put forth. Rinoa still looked a little confused, but she also had a look of dread on her face. Squall looked as if he was thinking it over intensely. I was well aware that I had left out a few large chunks of the truth, because technically I shouldn't know more than what I had told them just now. To say so would mean that I would have had to have come from Esthar itself. Then they would connect me to Adel and then the shit would hit the fan. But from what I had told them, it was easy to hypothesize that most of the theory was based on unconfirmed rumours.

"But it's just a theory, and a wild one at that. I'm probably wrong about it," I said with a grin, but the faces on my team mates didn't look too convinced that it was a silly story.

"The Galbadian troops are dispersing," Squall reported as he looked out of the window.

"Really?" I asked as I got up and moved over to where he was at the window. The soldiers were indeed dispersing, moving on to the next house. The departing of the Galbadians was accompanied by the sound of the Chief's daughter bounding up the stairs.

"The Galbadians are withdrawing. The President's headed out now," she explained, waving for us to head back downstairs. "Only the soldiers normally stationed here are going to stick around. If you're gonna leave town, now's your chance! You know how persistent those soldiers can be."

We returned to the kitchen, and there, I picked up an egg and tomato sauce toasted sandwage that the Chief's daughter had offered me. She moved to the other members and they all took one.

"So, what's your plan?" the Chief asked, her question directed at me.

"Well, our best bet is to catch the train that the Galbadian Garden commuters use to get there as it's the only one still open. From there we go to East Academy Station, head north through Yaluny Canyon to the Monteresau Plateau. Galbadia Garden isn't far beyond the forest in the canyon. It shouldn't take more than a half a day's travel," I explained.

"Sounds like a plan," Zell said after he swallowed the last of his sandwage.

"Okay, then," I said with a nod. "Let's go." I turned to the Chief and held out my hand. "Thanks for putting us up for a few hours, ma'am."

"You kids be careful, now!" she replied, shaking my hand as my team, along with our client, her dog and finally myself, left the house.

* * *

Watts met us outside the Chief's house, though his chosen dress nearly got him killed. The Forest Owl was defiantly a master of disguise; we didn't recognize him in the uniform of a Galbadian soldier. Squall had almost chopped him in half before Watts had cried out a warning, stopping the SeeD's weapon.

"Good disguise," Selphie commented as Squall sheathed his gunblade.

"Yes. Very well done," I praised him.

"Thanks," Watts replied, smiling. "Anyway, I've got some new info, sir! It turns out that they're shutting down all the rail lines out of Timber."

"All of them?" I asked, hoping that I wouldn't need to resort to flying us outta here. Too many witnesses.

"Actually no," Watts replied. "They're letting one last train out, the one headed for Galbadia Garden and Dollet."

I grinned. "Just the train we need," I said.

"Rinoa, you're going with them?" Watts then asked, his voice low and a bit sad. It sounded like he already knew the answer to the question.

"Yeah," she replied, sadness creeping into her voice as well. "What about you?"

"Don't worry about me!" Watts said, with a crisp and very Galbadian salute. "I'll gather more info! Knowledge is power!" Rinoa smiled at Watts' chipper attitude.

"I promise I'll be back," Rinoa told him. "You take care, okay?"

"I will," he answered. "Josh, you'll take care of Rinoa, right?"

"Actually it will be Squall who will take care of that. You hear me Squall? You are in charge of protecting Rinoa," I said. I didn't want the school girl falling for me. She was still too needy for my tastes. Hopefully this way the two of them would get to know each other better.

"Whatever," Squall replied in his favourite tone of voice. However his eyes showed that he would take his new role seriously.

"'Til we meet again, sir!" Watts said, smiling once more. He saluted, and then strode away purposefully, appearing as if just another patrolling soldier. Within moments he was gone, and I led the group away toward the northern section of the city.

A short time later, we passed the Aphorora Pub once more. Without warning, an old man who was loitering around suddenly stepped into our path.

"Josh, Rinoa!" he called, his voice definitely not that of an old man. Both myself and Rinoa recognized the voice.

"Zone!" Rinoa called, running up to the "old man." Zone smiled behind a huge, bushy grey moustache.

"You're headed for the train departing for Galbadia Garden, right?" he asked. We nodded. "Bad news, then," Zone reported. "There are no more tickets left."

"We don't need tickets to ride a train," I grinned as I pulled Oathkeeper half out of its holster.

"You won't have to do that," Zone replied, smiling as from his pants pocket the Forest Owl produced a handful of tickets. "Lookie what I've got here! Someone bought these tickets up so no one else could get on the train. What a coincidence I happen to have them."

Zone handed one to Rinoa, and then three more to me, for my team, leaving one ticket in the rebel's hand.

"This last one's for me…" Zone began to say, but then paused, looking at Quistis. With startling speed, Zone stepped up to her and put the ticket in her hand. Quistis's mouth opened in surprise, and she attempted to give it back to Zone, but the Owl would hear nothing of it.

"Take it," he said quickly, and then backed away, clutching his stomach. "Ow, my stomach… just get going, the train's leaving soon."

"Thank you," Quistis said, nodding her sincere thanks for the oddly selfless act.

"Yes, Zone," Rinoa added. "You keep out of trouble, okay? You have to survive. We've got to liberate Timber together."

"I know, I know," Zone replied, still holding his tummy. "I'll go hide in a bathroom or something. Now get moving. And you," Zone looked at me. "If anything happens to Rinoa, I'll kill you."

"I seriously doubt you could. But its Squall's priority now, and he's almost as good as me," I said, getting a short glare from the gunblade wielder. "Rinoa will be safe. If she stays out of trouble herself. She goes out on her own without us backing her up, then there's nothing we can do, short of chaining her up to a rock somewhere."

"…" was the collective group's answer.

"What?" I asked.

* * *

I led my team and our client to the train station, where the vehicle waited. The conductor glanced at our tickets and quickly waved us on board.

We entered the last car, and Selphie immediately ran to the door leading to the SeeD's private cabin. The intercom sounded with an announcement of the departure, and the train shuddered as it started moving. I took a quick inventory of his group. They were all tired, but Quistis and Rinoa appeared to be relieved to be out of Timber. Zell, however, seemed very anxious as he stood away from us, staring out a window at the passing city.

"Finally, we're-" I began to say, but was interrupted.

"Open, open, OPEN!" Selphie shouted while waiting impatiently by the door between cars.

"-Dodge," I finished.

"Please," Selphie shouted. "Open up!"

"Ok! Ok," I sighed as I took out my ticket, quickly scanned the ticket across the reader, which then beeped in confirmation. The door slid open, and Selphie tittered, smiling. She thanked me and then scrambled toward the SeeD car.

"So, weren't you saying something?" Rinoa asked as the door shut.

"I was saying we've finally gotten out of Dodge and are now on our way to a safe zone. We have a couple of hours between now and our arrival at the East Academy Station. I suggest to anyone who's tired to get some rest in the SeeD quarters. Someone will wake you when we're about to stop," I said and the women smiled at me thankfully.

"Hey Zell!" I said sharply and he turned to me, his eyes filled with worry. "Don't go getting all bent outta shape from worrying about Balamb Garden. As my mum used to say, 'Live in the moment.'" The brawler paused for a moment before nodding and giving out a small smile.

"We'll have to thank Zone for helping us out," Quistis spoke up after a moment. "I wish I could pay him back, though."

"He's into naughty magazines," Rinoa commented with an embarrassed giggle.

"What are you, a little girl of 8? Just say porn," I said, making Rinoa blush up a storm and Quistis turn away so we wouldn't see her own blush. Zell gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up, to which I returned just as eagerly, while Squall just shook his head. However, he wore a small amused smile.


	21. Chapter 21: Androids and Crystal Pillars

**Chapter 21: Androids and Crystal Pillars**

The train dropped us off at the eastern station near Yaluny Canyon a couple of hours later. We picked up our gear and disembarked quickly, stepping out onto the empty platform. Well, everyone except Quistis. All she had to carry were her knives, belt, and rante.

"You don't have much on you Quistis," I commented as we headed north. The towering peaks of the mountains bordering Yaluny Canyon could be seen in the distance, a good hour's walk from the station.

"I came light," Quistis replied. "I was following Seifer from Balamb, I didn't think I needed to carry a lot of equipment for a long stay. I suppose I was mistaken."

"How did you meet up with him?" Rinoa asked, adjusting her pack as Angelo followed. Quistis let out a laugh and tapped the side of her head, where there was a small, shrinking bump.

"He jumped me on the train," Quistis replied, shaking her head. "Locked me in the cabin and took my Guardian Forces."

"I see," I replied before stopping. The others stopped as well.

"What's wrong?" Zell asked.

"Just give me a minute," I replied before I spoke within my mind. 'Hey Hyôrinmaru? Feel like sharing your power with Quistis?' I asked.

"**Sure thing Josh,"** he replied. I felt his power flare inside my mind and I held out my hand. After a few seconds of pulling the energy into my hand, there was a small teal gemstone inside my hand. However I could still feel the ice dragon's power inside me, and I realised that he had simply created an Avatar copy from his own Avatar inside me and then shaped it into a GF gem. 'I guess something like this is possible because I'm a sorcerer,' I contemplated privately. I passed it to Quistis.

"Here. It's a GF stone from Hyôrinmaru," I said as she took it.

"Hyôrinmaru? I don't think I've heard of that one," she replied.

"Hyôrinmaru is Shiva's little brother. His form is a dragon with mastery over the Ice element," I explained.

"Where did you get it?" she asked, staring at the gem in wonder.

"At the Deep Sea Research Centre. And I guess now I need to explain how I was able to get there," I said before looking around to make sure our group was alone. Then I focused my powers and my black wings appeared into view.

"All sorceresses have wings that they can bring out at will. These are mine, and proof of my sorcerer powers. With them I was able to fly to Battleship Island the day after graduation to see if there was anything worth salvaging from the scientist's experiments there. I found a few GFs there and so I liberated them from their prison and asked them to join me. And they did. Hyôrinmaru is one of them," I explained.

"Wow…" Rinoa said as she gazed at my wings. "So beautiful."

"They are indeed," Quistis said, impressed.

I then dismissed my wings before I noticed movement behind me. I turned to see Selphie with one of her hands outstretched toward me. She froze when I noticed her before she grinned sheepishly. "Sorry Josh. I just wanted another feel of your wings," she said.

"Maybe another time," I replied, shaking my head in amusement. I then placed the gem into Quistis's hand before I blinked as Selphie handed a pink stone to me.

"What's up?" I asked.

"It's the GF I drew alongside Amaterasu from the exam," Selphie replied, shrugging. "Her name's Siren, but I haven't been doing too well junctioning her. Maybe you'll do better?"

"If you think so," I replied as I took the gem from her. 'Kyuubi, can you create an Avatar for Selphie?' I asked in my head.

"**Yep!"** she replied before I felt the same feeling of power massing into my hand. A second later a crimson gem was in my other hand. I gave Selphie this one before absorbing Siren into my body.

"Thanks Josh," Selphie said.

"No problems," I replied before a new voice spoke up.

"**Wow! Your mind really is spacious,"** the female voice I assumed was Siren's said.

'Why is it every time a new GF enters my mind, that's always their first reaction?' I asked.

"**Because we're not used to sorcerer minds. We're used to ordinary human minds which are significantly smaller. It's not a matter of how smart they are. It's just a different makeup. A sorceress's mind needs to be bigger to accommodate the raw magic they use,"** Bahamut supplied.

"**Hey! You're here Bahamut. And Sukuna. And Kyuubi. And Diablos. And… oh Hyne, what are you doing here?"** Siren said.

"**Hey babe!"** Dante said.

"**You stay away from me or we'll have a repeat of what happened the last time you tried to feel me up!"** she hissed.

Dante yelped and seemed to withdraw into a corner, whimpering slightly.

'What in the hell did you do to make Dante, of all people, whimper?' I asked, very curious.

"**Don't ask,"** she replied.

'Shit, now I'm really curious,' I mentally muttered.

"**Maybe some other time,"** she reasoned.

"Ok, I'm done," Quistis said after she had re-arranged her magic.

"Right-o. Let's keep moving," I said.

"So, that's your source of power?" Rinoa asked a couple of minutes later, to Squall. He nodded.

"Guardian Forces are SeeDs primary source of strength," Squall replied. "They are the primary weapon SeeD employs during its missions and the reason why Balamb Garden and SeeD are the most respected mercenary force in the west."

"You sound like a training manual," Rinoa commented.

"He sure does," I laughed. "However I've been teaching Squall and the others to treat GFs with respect and to not use and abuse them. They are living, breathing beings. Intelligent beings. We should not force them to fight for us. We need to live alongside them in peace," I said. "That reminds me." I paused again and summoned Shiva, Ifrit and Amaterasu into the physical world in their human forms. "I thought you could do with some fresh air."

"Thanks Josh," Shiva said, wearing the same clothes I had seen her wearing the first time. Ifrit was also wearing the same tight black singlet, black loose pants and heavy boots. But Amaterasu had changed out of her light cream summer dress and into a pair of light blue jeans with a brown belt, a yellow loose shirt and a blue denim vest over the top.

"You look good in that Amy," I complimented her.

"Thank you Josh," she smiled and bowed a little.

"**Hey! I want to join in! So I'll grant you access to my true form,"** Diablos said.

"Ok then," I replied, summoning him to my side. But instead of showing up in his usual form, Diablos appeared as a larger and more buff form of his Avatar form. He also had two additional demonic wings, bringing the total up to four.

"Wow! So this is your true form, huh?" I asked as he touched down on the ground.

"That is correct," his voice boomed out as he generated a large tennis ball sized jewel and handed it to me. The gem was black with a glowing indigo core of light. I absorbed the gem and instantly felt my connection to Diablos strengthen considerably. But again, it wasn't as big as a jump as Shiva's. As soon as the connection finished getting stronger, Diablos morphed into his human form.

His new form consisted of short black hair that hung longer on his right side than his left. He had deathly pale skin and onyx black eyes. He had a set of elongated fangs that poked out over his bottom lip slightly. He wore a black tuxedo and black boots made for hiking. And he wore a strange, creepy smile. His whole look reminded me of Sebastian from Black Butler.

"So this is your human look, huh? Not bad," I said before shaking his hand.

"Likewise," he replied as he responded to the greeting, his smile growing wider.

We then continued to walk along the path. We were quiet for a few minutes before Rinoa continued her conversation with Squall about GFs. "How, exactly, do you summon them?"

"It's similar to casting magic," Squall responded, shrugging. "If you can cast spells, then junctioning a Guardian Force is no different than simply stocking a spell. If you want, we can show you when we stop to rest."

"You'd show me?" Rinoa asked, surprised. "Isn't that breaking protocol?"

"No," Squall replied, shaking his head. "Garden doesn't prohibit us from explaining or teaching others how to use GFs."

"But I thought that Guardian Forces were some big secret Garden kept protected," Rinoa said. "I thought that was why only SeeDs from Balamb used GFs."

"Nah," I cut in. "Balamb Garden believes it's ok to use Guardian Forces, but Trabia Garden try to avoid arming SeeDs with them and Galbadia Garden just plain don't like them. Most world militaries avoid use of Guardian Forces as well, despite the lure of using their power and the ease in which one can be trained in their use."

"Why?" Rinoa asked, curious.

"Other militaries are hesitant to use them because of mental effects," Squall explained. "Guardian Forces inhabit a section of their host's brain, and the effect of this is unknown. Most militaries refuse to use the GFs until they know more about the effect that they would have on their soldiers, but Balamb Garden research indicates there is no irreparable brain damage resulting from their use."

"Actually, while there is no brain damage done to our summoner's brain, where the Avatars are stored supresses long term memory," Diablos said casually.

"What?" Quistis exclaimed. "So you're saying we're losing our memories?"

"Didn't you hear Diablos? He said that our Avatar forms _supress_ long-term memories. Only supress. If a form of stimuli is used, like a recording or a letter is used, then you will recall the memory. And if you unjunction us for a period of a few months, depending on how long you've junctioned us for, your long term memory will return of its own accord," Ifrit said.

"An example is that we might supress memories of your childhood. If you have no form of audio or visual reference, then you will not remember your childhood," Shiva added.

"I see. And that's all?" Rinoa asked, to which the four GFs nodded.

"But it does take some getting used to," Squall added. "If you're not careful with the junctioned magic, you may hurt yourself."

"I understand," Rinoa replied, nodding. "I'd like it if you both could show me," she added, looking at both Squall and I.

"Sure thing. I've got the perfect partner for you to help you get used to it all," I said with a wide grin.

"It's practical," Squall said. "If you have Guardian Forces to help you, you can defend yourself better. We won't worry about having to protect you."

"I figured you'd say something like that," Rinoa replied, shaking her head.

* * *

An hour later, my team, our client and the four GFs in human form had passed under the trees of the small forest nestled between the rock walls of Yaluny Canyon. We made good time through the forest, using a well-established trail made by Galbadia Garden's students as we passed through the forest. Another hour later, and we had reached the northern edge of the forest.

"We're almost to Galbadia Garden now," Quistis commented as we paused for a break. Everyone sat down for a breather.

"Heeey," Selphie said, her expression growing worried. "I was just thinking…."

"Uh-oh," I said, grinning widely. Selphie glared at me before she giggled.

"Well, what's up?" Shiva asked.

"We're passing into Galbadian territory," she said. "There might be some bad news from the Galbadian government." She grabbed her throat and made choking sounds. "What if we get caught and then get broadcast to the whole world?"

"Then make sure you go out laughing. Make a joke. Insult the President. Flash your boobs to the public. That's how I'll probably go out with," I laughed.

"What? Flash your man boobs?" Ifrit grinned. He continued to grin until I slapped him upside the head.

"You think you're real funny, Flame-o," I growled out. After a moment we laughed.

"Hey Josh?" Zell asked. "Do you think Deling will retaliate on Garden?"

"Are you still worrying about that?" I sighed.

"I can't help it. Balamb is my home," he replied.

"I'm not sure. Deling did threaten the Gardens, but he has to realise that Galbadia would be going up against all the SeeDs in the world armed to the teeth with weapons, magic and with the GFs on our side. If he wins, he wouldn't have much of a nation to rule afterwards since we wouldn't take his attack lying down. He might have a Sorceress on his side, but they are always a wild card. So to be honest I don't know if Deling would be ballsy enough to wage war against the Gardens," I replied honestly.

"I guess… I guess you're right," Zell replied, still feeling disheartened.

"Don't worry. If Galbadia declares war on us, I will fight alongside you all to the death. I promise. This does not mean that I will become a martyr as I hate that. I don't want to die unless absolutely necessary," I said.

This cheered Zell up. "Thanks man," he said, smiling.

"No problems mate…." I began to say but then a very familiar sensation took over me. "Oh… I forgot…" I murmured as I swayed a bit before I fell to my knees, dimly aware of Shiva calling my name. But she sounded so far away. I fell forward onto the grass, never noticing Squall, Selphie and Quistis doing the same.

* * *

Jack Soule stood beside Laguna as they looked down at the vast canyon below. Jack paused for a moment, scratching his unshaven stubble. This wasn't right, was it? That thing down there in the canyon… it shouldn't have been there in the first place. Hell, the canyon shouldn't have been there. The last recon flight into this section of Centra had shown a level plain, not this gouge in the earth. Nor did it show the miles-long crystalline structure below, partially encased in a massive rectangular metal shell.

"The fuck is that thing?" Jack muttered quietly to Laguna, who shrugged.

"I dunno, Jack," he replied.

"Kiros, you sure this is the place where the report of Estharian activity originated?" boomed Ward from behind Laguna. The two soldiers turned to face their huge comrade, as Kiros stepped around the bend in the mountain trail.

"Positive," the lithe man replied with a nod.

"Good," Ward responded, with a nod of his own. "I don't wanna be patrolling the wrong area, like last time. There weren't any Estharians for miles."

"Ahh, sorry," Laguna said. "This isn't the place."

"Oh, no you don't," Ward said, shaking his head. "Even you couldn't have gotten us off track here."

"This is it," Kiros added. "We're exactly where we're supposed to be. Let's get going, fearless commander. If the Estharian forces are up to anything, its here. We won't find out anything by sitting around."

Laguna sighed, and brought out his map. But before he could study the map again, Jack snatched it out of his hands.

"Hey! Gimme!" he protested, trying to grab the map, but Jack shoved his hand on Laguna's face and kept him back.

"Just give me a sec! Don't be such a baby!" Jack replied before letting go and studying the map himself. He looked over it, then into the canyon below. He checked again, and then sighed. The map that Laguna had been using was in fact the one for the region ten miles north of this area. Considering how Centra was pretty barren and featureless, that somehow didn't surprise him.

"You dumbass! You brought the wrong map. I swear it either one thing or the other every time you get us lost. It's a good thing we're in the correct spot this time," Jack said, shoving the map in Laguna's face.

"For once. Shouldn't have been in a rush to leave," Kiros muttered under his breath as he and Ward shook their heads in disbelief. "Well, let's go. Even your total incompetence couldn't screw this up."

"But, man," Laguna commented before the team could resume their patrol. "I've got a real bad feeling about this." He looked down at the structure below. "Something fishy's going on here. Esthar's up to something. You know what the old folks say, the unfamiliar always happens…"

"Unfamiliar?" Kiros asked, suppressing a laugh. "You mean 'unexpected,' right?"

"You only go the 'un' part right," Ward added.

"Ah, shut up," Laguna muttered. He took out his rifle and checked it quickly. "Check your gear before we move out."

Jack did the same thing, checking over his guns. As soon as he finished he took another look at the giant structure.

"Though I hate to admit it, Laguna's right. This place is spooking the crap outta me," Jack said before the team moved out.

* * *

"For once, you're right, man," Kiros commented as the small squad of four reached the canyon floor. "Something funny is happening here."

"Told ya," Laguna replied as they neared the strange structure. The trail that he had led them down had circled halfway across the canyon, so they were approaching the crystal and its encompassing metal structure from the east side, as opposed to the western end. At this point, they could hear the distant sound of ocean waves crashing against the cliffs to the south. Doubtless the ships that had dropped the team off were still waiting there for the patrol's return.

"Looks like no one's home," Ward muttered quietly as the team advanced down a cut trail. The trail featured rail lines along its length, and led to a large doorway in the side of the metal structure. As the group continued advancing, they heard the sound of operating machinery and the rumblings of stone.

"Maybe they're out for lunch," Laguna commented. "Keep an eye open for any threats." The other three soldiers nodded and readied their own weapons. Ward had his harpoon out, while Kiros' hands hovered near his belt, ready to draw the katals swiftly. Jack hovered his hands over his handguns, ready to draw them at a moment's notice.

No soldiers charged out to attack them, and neither did an alarm sound or gunshots boom as the team came closer. They soon spotted the source of the noise: a large conveyor belt, transporting heavy stones and dirt from some place deep underground.

"Excavation of some kind," Jack commented as they closed. Beyond the machine there was a pair of catwalks branching off, leading into the structure. Beyond them was an eerie crystalline glow.

"Seriously," Laguna said as they passed the machine. "This place sure is strange. What are they up to? Are those rocks natural rocks for carving tombstones or something?"

Jack looked at Laguna in an odd way. "The fuck?" he asked, completely taken off guard by the soldier's random comment. "Who cares?"

"Well, the government might," Ward replied. "They sure are interested in finding out why Esthar has such a large force operating in Centra in the first place."

"Nothing here of interest anyway," Kiros said, shaking his head. "Not much in the way of resources and it's too far south to launch an effective attack from."

"Maybe… they're checking out the ruins?" Laguna suggested. "Definately looks like they're excavating here. Maybe they're after old Centra tech?"

"Its possible," Kiros replied. "Though the idea of anything useful surviving the Lunar Cry from eighty years ago seems a bit of a stretch."

"Well, Esthar seems to think so," Laguna said with a shrug. He paused, then held up a hand, letting the others know to be quiet. They couldn't really hear very well, but Laguna thought he heard the sound of boots clanking on metal over the machinery.

"You hear that?" he asked, raising his rifle. The others nodded, and their own weapons rose as well. A moment later, there was more clanking, as if more boots were joining the first set. Then, suddenly, a group of white and purple-garbed men came into sight on one of the catwalks, the one directly ahead. The men wore a white bodysuit made of some toughened elastic metal. Over this they wore purple armour on their torsos and shoulders that conformed to their bodies, and similar purple armour over the thighs and lower legs. Their heads were encased in a purple and white helmet, with large red eyes, almost insect-like in appearance. The armour and helmet definitely made the soldiers look like inhuman machines.

"Esthar soldiers!" Laguna warned. "Still wearing those flashy armour suits." He pointed his rifle at the soldiers ahead. The men paused, and brandished odd weapons. They looked like three-barrelled pistols, with a huge and heavy pickaxe head mounted on top. The weapon, called a shotaxe, was an effective weapon for ranged and melee combat, and the standard issue Estharian weapon.

"Laguna!" Ward shouted from behind. Laguna glanced back.

"Don't be such a weenie, there's only three of 'em!" he said.

"Maybe you should turn around and recount!" Jack hissed.

Laguna stopped as he looked behind. Three more Estharian troopers were behind the squad, and more could be seen closing from the distance, hurrying down the mountain trails.

"What the…?" Laguna managed to say before the soldiers attacked. The three behind the group leaped into melee, hacking with their axes. Those further down the catwalk in front of Laguna charged as well, firing as they advanced.

Ward raised his harpoon to block a chop from one of the soldiers. He shoved the stopped axe aside and swung the harpoon across, the butt end smashing into the man's helmeted face. The soldier reeled, stunned, and Ward smashed him again in the face, knocking him down, his helmet crushed inward by the sheer force.

Ward spun to face a second soldier, though in the back of his mind he realized that even he didn't have the strength to crush hardened metal like the Estharian alloys. As he knocked another chop aside, Ward recalled the battle against the Wendigos just a month ago. He'd been far stronger than normal there too…

Laguna, standing on the narrow metal catwalk, didn't have anywhere to go as the soldiers ahead of him fired. He gritted his teeth and dropped prone, his left hand grabbing a grenade off his belt. The soldier fired his rifle one-handed as the Estharians closed, and as he hit the deck, Laguna let fly with the grenade.

Jack had decided to back up Kiros and Ward by firing several shots toward the many soldiers approaching them from behind. Each and every shot found their mark with almost perfect accuracy, despite the large distance between them. He was surprised for a moment at that surprising feat before a bullet whizzed past his face, creating a long but shallow cut along his cheek.

"Sniper!" He called out as he ducked and quickly scanned the many places one could snipe effectively from. After only 2 seconds he spotted the sniper in a well-covered spot. There was no way he could get him directly. After another two seconds of thinking up a plan, he readjusted his aim and fired three bullets. Two hit an iron beam directly above the sniper and ricocheted away from the shooter, but the third hit the beam and rebounded to blast a hole right through the sniper's head.

Kiros faced off against the last soldier behind the squad. His katals leaped into his hands and deftly parried the clumsy shotaxe swing. His right arm swung in a circular parrying motion, knocking the shotaxe aside, while his left shot forward. The katal struck the hardened torso armour, but did not penetrate. Kiros retracted the arm and sent it forward again in a blindingly fast jab, aiming higher. His katal cut through at the soldier's neck, jabbing into his throat.

Ward spun his harpoon over while it was still connecting with the soldier's axe. The big man drove the soldier's weapon down using the butt end of his harpoon. He angled the sharpened tip forward, and thrust hard. The razor edge of the harpoon punched clean through the soldier's chest armour, impaling him.

Laguna's sustained fire caught the leading soldier in the stomach. The man cried out, lurching over in pain as blood erupted from his stomach. A second later, the grenade Laguna had thrown detonated. The leading soldier simply vanished in a black and red cloud. One of the other soldiers was blasted to goo, while the third was hurled off the catwalk to tumble down into the depths below.

Ward pulled his harpoon free from its victim, and then ducked as a shotaxe blast tore a chunk out of the ground below him. Despite Jack's efforts to take out the force closing in, there were still too many reinforcements, and there was no argument among the small squad. They turned and ran down the only route they could.

Straight into the crystalline structure.

"Wasn't our mission just to patrol?" Kiros asked as they hurried down the catwalk, bullets pinging and flying around them. Another group of Estharian solders emerged, directly ahead, blocking escape down that catwalk.

"Why does it always turn out like this?" Ward asked as Laguna veered the group down the other catwalk. Laguna and Jack fired at the approaching soldiers, dropping two and sending the rest diving for cover. Laguna looked ahead, and then pointed. The catwalk ended, but there was a ladder leading down.

Kiros reached it first and practically bounded down the ladder. Ward was second, Jack was third while Laguna held back, firing bursts at the pursuing Estharians. He lobbed another grenade at them, and then scrambled down the ladder. Halfway down the fifty-foot ladder, the grenade exploded.

The ladder led down to a narrow catwalk, positioned between the outer metal wall and an inner wall of an eerie blue-white crystal. Jack could almost feel the power resonating through the crystal as he hurried down the ladder. The outer metal wall was criss-crossed with metal support beams and high-tech Estharian machinery. Both above and below the catwalk were more catwalks and supporting beams, many leading to tunnels bored directly into the inner crystal wall.

As the team hurried down the ladder, a bullet suddenly bounced off it, followed by a second that flew over Kiros' shoulder. A single Estharian soldier, standing on the catwalk near the ladder, was firing. The small man dropped off the ladder, falling the remaining fifteen feet. His katals flashed as he landed, knocking aside the striking axe of the soldier. Kiros struck quickly, spinning around. His katals came around and smashed into the soldier's torso. They didn't penetrate, but the force of the weapons and Kiros' spin knocked the soldier off his feet and over the edge of the catwalk. The man plummeted into the gap.

The other three soldiers reached the catwalk a second later, and Laguna dropped a grenade by the foot of the ladder. The trio ran on, and were more than safely far away when the grenade went off, destroying part of the ladder.

"Can't come at us that way," Laguna commented as they ran down the catwalk. A few minutes later the catwalk turned down to one of the tunnels bored into the crystal, and standing there was another Esthar soldier, who had his back turned to the group. Jack quietly took out a backup knife and silently made his way up to the unsuspecting soldier. He brought his knife around and quietly slit his throat. He fell away, and Ward grabbed the man. With one arm, Ward flung him off the catwalk.

Not stopping, the group hurried into the crystalline tunnel. Their footsteps rang as if they were hurrying across thick glass, and a strange, blue inner light illuminated the shining tunnel. None of the soldiers really understood what this crystal was, though they could easily sense the power throbbing through it, as if the massive structure was a living thing.

The men ran on without tiring. They rounded two bends, and blasted past a pair of Estharian soldiers, a katal taking one man in the stomach while Ward simply slammed the second against the wall, cracking both the man's helmet and the wall.

The crystal had changed to a greenish tint at this point, but Kiros, Jack, Laguna, and Ward paid it no attention as they reached an intersection. Before Laguna could even begin to decide which direction to take, though, Estharian soldiers came charging down both routes, four from the right, five from the left.

The leading soldier from the left tunnel died almost instantly, a single shot from Jack's right handgun blasting apart his face. The rest of the soldiers raised their axes and dove in. Laguna and Jack fell back, with Kiros stepping forward to meet the group coming down the left tunnel. Ward spun on the Estharians coming down the right.

Ward struck the first blow as the soldiers attacked him. He flipped his harpoon over, grabbing it close to the point, and swung it like a warhammer. The ring slammed into the closest soldier, crunching his armour and smashing him up against the wall, killing him instantly. Ward then deftly spun the harpoon over, holding it like a quarterstaff to deflect the next attack, an overhead chop of the next soldier's shotaxe.

The first soldier to strike at Kiros died in a quick spinning parry of the right katal, while the left thrust into his throat. The next soldier died just as quickly, his shotaxe parried by Kiros' left katal, and his neck cut by a crossing right katal. The third soldier struck with a powerful overhead strike, the axe head aimed squarely for Kiros' head.

Laguna found one of the soldiers from the left tunnel attacking him. The man came across with his shotaxe, a strike which Laguna ducked under. The axe came back around, but this time Laguna blocked it with his rifle. Laguna shoved the axe down, and stomped on its shaft, using his foot to hold the axe down for the split-second he needed. Laguna thrust the rifle up, jabbing the barrel into the soldier's chest. At point-blank range, Laguna fired, his rifle's bullets tearing into the soldier's armour. The rounds punched through and blasted into the man's chest. He fell back, dying as blood poured out the holes in his armour.

Jack was engaged with a soldier who had gotten past Ward somehow. He was currently using both his left gun and in his right hand was his backup knife. The Estharian came down with his shotaxe, to which Jack blocked with his gun. He then countered with his knife with a swipe across the face, but the soldier bent backwards as the knife tip passed an inch from cutting into his nose. But then Jack brought his gun up and fired a shot into the soldier's knee, collapsing him onto the ground. Jack then pounced and delivered a second shot to the head.

Ward easily stopped the chopping hit of his foe's shotaxe. He twisted his weapon to the right, shoving the enemy's weapon aside, and at the same time putting the butt of his harpoon in line for the man's face. The iron ring shot forward, smashing into the soldier's helmet and crushing the metal faceplate.

Kiros' katals rose into a crossing block, catching the descending axe between them. He quickly pushed back, shoving the soldier and his weapon back, and then stepped away, bring the katals out wide. Kiros then hopped forward, his katals coming together like the snapping jaws of a wolf. The katals slammed into either side of the shotaxe, hitting it on its shaft. The momentum of the two katals striking from opposite sides knocked the weapon out of the man's hands, and before he could react, Kiros' blades went out wide and snapped closed again, this time taking the man's head.

A third foe closed with Ward, who stepped back. He tossed his harpoon backwards, as if he was thrusting it one-handed at a foe behind him. However, instead of releasing the weapon, his right hand, which had been positioned near the spear tip, ran down the length of the weapon. Ward caught the harpoon at its ring, and then came forward, reversing the harpoon's momentum. He swung the harpoon across, slashing with the spear tip as if the weapon were one of Kiros' katals.

The tip missed the soldier it was aiming for, the target hopping back and sucking in his stomach, narrowly avoiding the razor tip of Ward's weapon. But Ward spun the harpoon over his head, bringing it back around to his side. This time, instead of thrusting, Ward punched out with the harpoon, again like one of Kiros' katals. The Estharian soldier brought his weapon up to block, but Ward's strike was too fast, and it went clean through the man's chest.

Ward yanked his iron spear loose with his right hand as the last soldier came in. Ward's left hand rose up as the shotaxe descended, and caught the hybrid weapon by its shaft. Ward then pulled his harpoon back with his right hand, releasing it as he did so. The weapon flew back, and Ward caught it at mid-shaft. He then spun the weapon, thrusting it at the soldier. The man took the iron spear in the chest, and went down.

Not wasting anytime, Laguna glanced down the tunnel behind them, to see more Estharian soldiers coming. A quick check of the other tunnels showed another party of enemy soldiers coming down the left tunnel.

"The right! Go right!" Laguna shouted, and they did so. Laguna paused long enough to drop a grenade and then ran as well. The Estharian soldiers converged at the intersection in time to meet the grenade's explosion. The pursuit was stalled, with the survivors either unconscious or in no condition to fight, until yet another squad of soldiers arrived, and bypassed their disabled comrades.

A couple of minutes and a ladder later, the small team ran across a trio of plates built into the floor of the crystal tunnel, apparently to cover up holes in the tunnel. Laguna paused at the middle one, and examined it, upon hearing a rattle in its frame.

"Hey, the lever's broken," he said, bending down. The plate, he saw, was designed so it could swing open if pressure was applied, probably either so teams could access the gap below or for trash disposal. All that was needed was someone to remove the lever.

"If we use this, we can slow down those stubborn Esthar fools!" Laguna proclaimed, as he fiddled with the lever.

"What are you up to?" Kiros asked, stopping and glancing back at Laguna. Ward and Jack stopped as well.

"Probably something stupid, I bet," the big man added.

"Or idiotic. Probably both," Jack grinned.

"You guys," Laguna replied, shaking his head as he continued working with the lever. "You guys are gonna regret saying that. They say the one who makes fun of a genius will end up crying in the end."

"So…" Ward replied, "Who's the genius?"

"Oh, shut up!" Laguna said, continuing trying to force the lever. "Anyway! The lever on this hatch is busted. If I can just get it loose…"

"They come at us from that direction, and…"

"Yeah! You guessed it!" Laguna replied. "They'll walk right over the plate without expecting anything! Then all of a sudden, whoops! Down they go!" Laguuna laughed. "I have to admit, I really am a genius."

Ward barked a laugh. "Like the Estharians are gonna fall for that trap," he said, shaking his head.

"Well, they could be that dumb, or maybe they won't expect a bunch of Galbadians to be that smart," Jack reasoned. "It's worth a try."

"That's right!" Laguna replied. "And those who never try will never know! You guys stand back. It's almost loose… there!" Laguna stood up, smiling at his handiwork. Aside from a small piece of metal that was missing, the trap was invisible. Not waiting to see the effectiveness of their simple trap, Laguna, Jack, Kiros, and Ward cleared out.

A couple of minutes later, the pursuing squad charged down the tunnel. Not even paying any attention to the metal plates below, the men crossed them without a thought.

Four men fell in as the plate swung loose, and two more were accidentally pushed in as the whole squad came to a sudden stop. The soldiers paused, and then turned around, running back down the tunnel. They would be able to catch up with the intruders, but the clever trap had cost them many minutes.

* * *

Another couple of intersections and a pair of patrolling Estharians later, the four Galbadian soldiers passed a series of boulders and rubble piled among an open chamber in the crystal.

"Must have been using explosives," Ward commented, noting a large tunnel leading straight down, on the west side of the cavern. A small, round boulder was perched nearby, a small pack of explosives set beneath it.

"No time to admire the scenery!" Laguna said, waving them on. "Those Estharians are hot on our tails!"

The group continued up the tunnel, passing by a very large boulder, also featuring a pack of explosives set under it. Just a few feet away there lay a detonator panel, with two switches, one red, one blue. They corresponded with a pair of fuses, the red one leading down the tunnel, while the blue one led to the large boulder nearby. Laguna paused next to it, then looked down the tunnel.

"Maybe we can block this tunnel, using the boulders?" he asked.

"Hey, man!" Ward exclaimed, an incredulous look on his scarred face. "Are you crazy? You don't even know how powerful that thing could be! Look at that boulder…" Ward pointed at the massive boulder nearby. "No telling how much firepower's needed to move this thing."

"Ahh, I bet it's not all that," Laguna assured his large friend. "The detonator's right here. As long as we stay behind it, we should be alright. Only an idiot would put the detonator where he could get caught in the blast!"

"Face it Ward, he's gonna do it. He's like a little kid. Just go with it," Jack said.

"Well… I guess so," Ward conceded. Laguna nodded and crouched beside the detonator.

"Let's see," he said. "Which one first? Red or blue?" Laguna shrugged and hit the red switch. He glanced back up at his friends. "Don't worry. The bomb blast won't reach us he Laguna was cut off as the crystal beneath their feet shuddered violently. A tremendous rumbling rippled through the structure, and Laguna and Ward were hurled off their feet. Kiros and Jack barely managed to stay standing, relying on their amazing agility to keep upright. Seconds later, the quakes faded.

"That was…" Kiros commented as the others rose. "Awfully loud. Must have been some major bombs they were using."

"Lucky we were here," Ward commented, dusting himself off.

"Like I said," Laguna said. "You should always check how powerful the thing could be first!"

"Ward said that you jackass!" Jack growled.

"…Uh… ah… hm… Anyway!" Laguna said quickly, scratching the back of his head nervously. "We're still alive, right?"

"Over there! That's where the explosion came from!" A shout sounded down the corridor.

"Maybe not," Kiros said. "They probably heard us."

"Probably?" Ward muttered. "That kind of explosion would wake the dead."

"No time to waste, then!" Laguna said, he bent down and tossed the blue switch. "This'll slow 'em down!" He then stood and waved frantically for the group to run. Judging by the power behind the bombs needed to move the small boulder in the chamber before, this explosion was going to be tremendous.

"It's gonna blow! Run for it!" Laguna shouted, and they did. Within moments, the group was almost out of sight up the corridor, scrambling up a staircase at the end of the tunnel. Halfway up, they paused and waited for the explosion, but none came. There was a faint cough, like that of a small firecracker, and then a distant rumbling as the boulder rolled away, accompanied by the panicked screams of the Estharian soldiers scrambling out of its way.

"That was… awfully quiet," Kiros commented.

"I was expecting a blast of some sort," Ward added. "Something big."

"It's like the Estharians are intentionally trying to screw with whoever activates the detonators," Jack muttered.

"Ha! I told you!" Laguna replied. "It was close to the detonator. I knew it wasn't that powerful!" His companions merely shook their heads, and the group ran the rest of the way up the stairs.

Soon, the trio reached the top, to find a catwalk leading over a vast chamber. The far end of the crystalline cavern was open to the sky, a circular opening ringed by pink crystal. The glimmers of outside light reflecting off the inside walls cast beautiful reflections and beams of light around the chamber.

Still, Laguna, Jack, Kiros and Ward did not pause to appreciate the beauty, instead hurrying up the catwalk. The catwalk featured a staircase halfway up its length, leading to a second level, above the one they were on. The second level turned to the left, at a right angle to its original course and leading to another tunnel across the chamber. The soldiers rushed up the catwalk's stairs, and turned. The distance between the staircase and the distant tunnel was well over a hundred feet long, and the narrow catwalk made for an excellent ambush spot.

The four knew this, but they had no choice but to cross. Thankfully, no Estharians approached from the distant tunnel, nor did any pursue them from the previous tunnel. Jack expected the group to be able to get off the catwalk without encountering any threats, but those hopes went flying away, as did Jack, a second later.

Something slammed into Jack's face, hard. The soldier went up and back, flying over the railing. He would have plunged to his death but managed to catch the railing with his left hand. Kiros and Ward came to a stop as the air in front of them rippled.

"Optic camo!" Kiros shouted, the implications surprising the other two soldiers. Esthar did indeed possess optical camouflage, rendering the wearer invisible and enabling them to hide their troops effectively, but the technology was still in the experimental stages.

Nonetheless, the soldiers in front of the group possessed this new technology. Now that they were revealed, though, the soldiers didn't bother with continuing the use of the tech. Like a rippling pond, the invisibility was swept away from the soldiers, revealing dozens of insect-like suits of armour packing the catwalk's length with deep ranks. The Estharians readied their shotaxes and advanced.

"How lovely…" Jack grunted sarcastically as he began hauling himself up as the enemy surged toward Laguna, Kiros and Ward. The three Galbadian soldiers readied their weapons, standing side-by- side on the narrow catwalk, and met the attack. The initial pair of attackers met swift ends, one impaled on Ward's harpoon while the second found his weapon knocked aside from a burst of gunfire from Laguna and his throat slashed by a katal, courtesy of Kiros.

The brown skinned man ducked low, the katal in his left shooting across, taking the next soldier coming at Ward in the knee while his second katal blocked an incoming shotaxe. Ward sent his harpoon to the right, the iron spear shooting through the opening the parried shotaxe had opened. The harpoon plunged home. Ward then brought his weapon back against the staggering soldier in front of him, the ring of the harpoon thudding against the man's head and sending him over the railing. Laguna managed to fire some accurate shots at his foe, bringing the soldier down as his kneecaps were blown to bits before several more bullets crashed through the soldier's helmet.

Kiros then went low again, beneath an attacking foe's shotaxe. He stabbed out with both katals, one striking the soldier in front and the other against the man next to him. Both men found katals in their stomachs, and then both went flying, one from Ward's swinging harpoon, the other from his swinging fist.

Another pair of soldiers attacked the three, and met similar ends, one's head severed while the other's skull was caved in. The men behind them died just as quickly, as Laguna let loose a wide spray of lead, killing them quickly.

Still, the soldiers knew they couldn't keep up with the pace. They were rapidly tiring, despite the odd stamina and strength they had seemingly been blessed with. The Estharinas kept on coming, with more streaming out of the tunnel behind the force already arrayed on the catwalk. Over a dozen enemy soldiers were dead or dying, but more than twice that number were on the catwlk, waiting for their shot at the Galbadians.

Jack managed to haul himself back up onto the catwalk, and raised his guns. However, he couldn't fire, as Laguna, Kiros and Ward were in front. As Ward's harpoon dove home, Kiros struck another foe down with a stab and slash and Laguna brought on the pain with several short bursts from his machine gun, Jack found himself unable to help them. None of the enemy presented a clear target.

Ward's harpoon hurled another foe aside, and he brought the point back around to strike again, only to see his next foe not charging. Instead, the man levelled the shotaxe at him. The weapon kicked up once, and the barrel flashed, and then Ward went down, a searing pain in his shoulder and chest.

"Ward!" Jack shouted as the big man fell. The Estharian rushed in quickly to finish him, only to be cut down by a single, powerful bullet. Jack clenched his teeth and continued to pull the trigger. Bullets tore through the enemy ranks, dropping more enemy soldiers.

Kiros, meanwhile, found himself hard-pressed. He was more than a match for his enemies, but the only way he could prevent them from firing on him like they had at Ward was to keep fighting them in melee. Thus, he had to continuously advance and force the enemy into close-quarters battle. The enemy pressed back against his attack, however, and Kiros felt himself becoming overwhelmed.

Laguna and Jack kept tearing into their foes, hitting them hard, but instead of retreating, the Estharians kept coming. Laguna knew he was running short of ammo, as was Jack as he swapped out for his final two clips, and as Laguna's magazine emptied, he grabbed a grenade off his belt. His ammunition ran out, and the grenade flew. It landed in the middle ranks of the enemy soldiers and detonated, even as more foes closed with the two gunners, trying to cut them down.

Blood and body parts flew as those soldiers in the immediate vicinity of the grenade simply vanished. Those not right next to the grenade were torn apart, and many more went flying, the lucky ones landing on the catwalk, the unlucky ones flying over the ledge to their deaths. Only a few of the remaining soldiers were left in any condition to fight, and were cut down quickly as Laguna slammed a new magazine home and struck before they could recover. Several bursts of gunfire and a few strokes of the katals later, the catwalk was cleared.

"Thank god that gauntlet is over with," Jack panted, his hands on his knees, the adrenaline slowing down.

Laguna and Kiros kneelt next to their comrade, who groaned in pain. Ward coughed once, spitting up blood.

"Ward! Are you okay? Say something!" Laguna asked pleadingly, to which Ward coughed again.

"Ouch," Ward replied. Then he laughed. "Damn, that hurt!"

"That shot should have killed you," Kiros exclaimed, shaking his head.

"Nah, Ward's too ugly to die," Laguna joked, helping the big man to his feet. The man stood, and shook his head, then blinked a few times.

"Laguna, is something odd going on?" he asked.

"Aside from being inside a crystal cavern being chased by a small army of Estharian soldiers?" Kiros commented.

"I think he's talking about how we're still alive," Jack replied.

"It's that buzzing again," Laguna said, nodding. "Like when we were in Timber and then in the desert. We're… we're stronger and faster than normal."

"And tougher," Ward added, putting a hand over his chest and the nasty wound. The big man pulled a healing potion off his belt and drank it down.

"What does it mean?" Laguna asked, perplexed. He seemed lost in thought for a moment, before shrugging. "I dunno."

"We can figure it out later," Kiros said, pointing back the way they'd come. "Those Estharians won't sit around with their ambush wiped out."

"Right," Laguna said with a nod. "Let's move!"

"Spoilsport!" Jack complained as he straightened up once more.

* * *

The Estharians had gained on the four soldiers during their battle and the short pause afterwards. Laguna and Jack rolled a few more grenades and fired some bursts behind to slow the pursuit several times, until the group reached an intersection, one direction leading ahead and deeper into the structure, the other leading to the right, and to daylight and the sound of the sea. Not hesitating, Laguna swung the group to the left. They bounded up a flight of stairs, with Jack dropping the last of his grenades to stop pursuit, and as the explosive detonated, the group reached the top of the stairs.

The tunnel ended ahead, opening to the outside, and the group felt the blowing wind and smelled the salt of the ocean. They ran forward, and exited the massive structure.

Only to find their exit blocked by a cliff overlooking the ocean, four hundred feet below.

"Motherfucker!" Jack swore as he glared at the cliff.

"Don't tell me…" Laguna moaned, shaking his head and staring at the waters below. So close…

Seconds later, there came the pounding of boots on metal behind them, bounding up the stairs. Esthar's army had finally caught up with them.

"Of all the worst possible…" Kiros growled, and they spun to face the enemy as they reached the top of the stairs. A dozen men, a full squad of Estharian regulars, stood atop the staircase. They readied their shotaxes and advanced. Behind them, four additional soldiers, clad in black and green insect-like armour, with blue eyes instead of red, approached the top of the stairs.

"Predicaments?" Ward asked, shaking his head as he brought his harpoon down and around. The black, blue, and green soldiers were actually cyborgs, part living, part machine. They were either manufactured, created from machinery or cloned human tissue, or made from the bodies of fallen soldiers too wounded to continue combat and military service without assistance. Esthar's elite shock troops, their cyborgs were faster than normal, stronger, and far deadlier combatants.

"Here we go again," Jack sighed.

The Estharian regulars surged forward. Ward speared one with a quick thrust, while Kiros dropped two with a pair of parries and a pair of cuts. Laguna's bullets tore through the soldiers' ranks, dropping three. Jack blasted accurate fire at the masses, killing off another three. A fourth struck at Jack, who rolled under the blow. He came up behind the man and kicked him, hard. The unnatural strength running through the soldier hurled the Estharian through the air and right over the cliff's edge. Laguna then fired again, covering Jack and taking the next man in the face with a burst, laying him dead.

Ward parried a cleaving blow, then hopped aside, evading an arcing, horizontal chop from another soldier. Ward dropped his right hand from his harpoon and punched the man whose blow he had deflected, and then thrust towards the second man, hitting him in the chest with the ring of the harpoon. The man staggered back, and Ward swept his weapon around, smashing the ring into the first soldier's face, crushing the helmet. The heavy harpoon rose again, and the ring descended on the second soldier. The man recovered from the first hit in time to catch the descending iron ring on the top of his head. He fell dead instantly, now several inches shorter with his crushed skull.

Kiros dispatched his foes with a dazzling display of slashes and parries. Before the remaining pair of soldiers had realized what had happened, one's axe was high, the other's low and to the side, and Kiros' katals had sliced their throats. The men fell to the ground, clutching their mortal wounds.

As the last of the regulars fell, the cyborgs stepped forward. As one, the man-machines levelled their shotaxes at the four soldiers. Jack opened his mouth to warn his friends to take cover, but then the cyborgs fired. Three sets of shotaxe barrels, nine shells in total, fired at the Galbadian four.

Laguna and Jack dove to the ground, and the shells aimed his way flew overhead harmlessly. Ward tried diving aside, but he was caught in the chest and neck by the shells. Blood streamed down his body from the wounds, and the big man fell back, dropping his harpoon. He scrabbled at his belt, grabbing for another healing potion.

Kiros managed to twist aside, catching the shells aimed at him along the side. His flank erupted in pain, but the soldier gritted through the fiery explosions and charged, katals raised.

The cyborgs then advanced, one going for each of the four Galbadians.

Ward, not wasting time drinking his potion, simply broke the bottle and splshed the fluid over his face and neck, and let the healing liquid work. He then brought his hands up. The cyborg attacking him swung fast and hard, but Ward was even quicker. His hands closed over the descending shotaxe's haft, stopping the weapon's tip several inches from his face. His muscles showing no strain at all, Ward the spun the axe over, twisting it out of the cyborg's hands. A flick of his wrist sent the shotaxe flying away, and then Ward dove into the man-machine.

Kiros matched his foe's speed and strength, his katals striking in rapid succession. The cyborg fell back into a defensive posture, its shotaxe working to fend Kiros' attacks. For a couple of seconds the two seemed evenly matched, until the cyborg suddenly hopped back and then came forward. Kiros stepped after the retreating machine, only to take a shoulder in the chest as the cyborg came back. The man stumbled backwards, and the cyborg struck, its shotaxe crossing in a powerful blow. The sharpened tip slammed into Kiros' side, diving deep.

Laguna met his foe head on, firing as the cyborg advanced. The man-machine took several bursts to the chest but ignored them, coming down with its axe. Laguna swung his rifle out in front, blocking the strike. He pushed off the cyborg, tossing it back. The cyborg came right back in, swinging its axe one-handed. Laguna's left hand shot out and caught the axe hand by the wrist, holding it tightly and stopping it there. He raised his rifle to fire it one-handed, but the cyborg's own free left hand came up and clasped the weapon by its barrel, holding the rifle fast.

Jack's opponent fired off a shotaxe blast, but Jack managed to dodge to the side with milliseconds to spare. He brought up his right handgun, but it was knocked out of his hand as the cyborg came in hard and fast with a kick. In a flash Jack's knife was in his hand. The cyborg jumped into the air and brought it's shotaxe above it's head and then did a vertical downward slash as it came down on top of Jack. He reacted swiftly by rolling sideways to avoid the attack, where the ace hit the ground and caused a few fragments of crystal to scatter from the point of impact.

Ward bore his foe to the ground, punching away. However, the cyborg was much tougher than the Estharian regulars, and it seemed to ignore Ward's heavy punches, and countered with its own. The two traded blow for blow, meaty fist slamming the cyborg while armoured machinery crunched into bone and flesh. Within a few hits Ward was dazed, and the cyborg curled its legs underneath it and planted its feet on Ward's chest. A quick heave tossed the man off it, and the cyborg rose.

Ward shook his head and rose as well. He fell into a fighting stance, clearing his dazed head. The cyborg rushed forward, hands shooting out in a double thrust punch, one fist aimed at Ward's head, the other at his midsection. Ward's hands shot forward as well, and as with the shotaxe's haft, the big man's hands were able to catch the onrushing cyborg's arms and hold them. However, rather than simply stop the machine there, Ward spun, using his inhuman strength and the cyborg's momentum to spin it around. As they turned, Ward released the cyborg's wrists, and it went flying, right over the edge of the cliff.

Ward then fell back, the damage from the shotgun shells and the cyborg's fists finally taking its toll. The big man fell on his rear, and then dropped to the side.

Kiros leaped back, tearing free of the axe. His left hand fell to his side, dropping its katal to stem the flow of blood from the wound. He glared at the cyborg as it approached. The shotaxe was raised, and it charged. The axe began to dive, when Kiros rolled away, easily evading the axe head. The small man came back in just as quickly, his katal coming up and thrusting. The punching dagger lived up to its name, and Kiros drove the weapon through the cyborg's metallic skull, smashing electronics. The man-machine sparked once, and then fell limp.

Kiros let out a gasp and fell as well, his blood still pouring from the wound in his side. He grabbed at a potion and downed the liquid, staunching the bleeding.

As soon as the cyborg's attack missed Jack quickly spun around and extended his knife out to slash at the cyborg's unprotected side but it back flipped to avoid the sword strike. As soon as it landed back on the ground it charged head on at Jack with another powerful shotaxe slash, which Jack quickly blocked with his knife, upon which a power struggle emanated between them, where they struggled for dominance and tried to overpower each other. But either the cyborg forgot that Jack was armed in both hands or he was too busy with trying to overpower Jack, who knows. But Jack suddenly let up on the pressure, causing the cyborg to stumble forward. Right into Jack's left gun. A few loud bangs and the cyborg fell to the ground, a mixture of blood and silver fluid flowing out of a few points of entry.

Jack then collapsed to the ground in a heap, gasping for breath.

Laguna was caught in a clinch with the cyborg. The two glared at each other, Laguna's eyes staring into the emotionless blue bug eyes of the cyborg. Their muscles strained, the human's sinews battling the cyborg's mechanized gears. Time seemed to stand still for a moment, and then, impossibly, the rifle edged forward, its barrel turning in line with the cyborg's chest. The cyborg fought back, but with each passing second, the rifle edged another inch closer. Laguna set his teeth and pushed, very hard. Just a little more…

The human let out a growl of both victory and hope, and pushed even harder. With a final surge, the rifle jabbed forward, and stuck into the cyborg's chest. Laguna pulled the trigger, and held it down. The metal slugs punched into the cyborg's chest, tearing through armour and electronics. Round after round dove in, and within seconds, the machine no longer stood. It fell, very much dead, to the ground.

Laguna didn't pause to celebrate. He spun, checking his friends. For an instant, he thought they were dead, or nearly so, but a quick check showed both Jack, Kiros and Ward were alive, if badly injured. Laguna then scanned the area for enemies, but saw none. However, Laguna did spot something beyond the edge of the cliff. He looked out over that edge and laughed.

Down below, on the sea, were a group of Galbadian vessels. The small craft were likely patrol ships, but nonetheless, they were a guaranteed ticket out of there. Moving quickly, the soldier rushed to his comrades, hooking an arm under each man's arm, and pulling them to the cliff's face.

"Look, guys," he told them. "The ocean. We're saved!"

"That doesn't mean squat if there's no boats down there," Jack groaned as he crawled over to collect the gun that had been knocked out of his hand in the fight. He then crawled to the edge of the cliff and saw that there were boats. "Boats… yay…"

"One would say," Kiros gasped. "That we've been run down. It's not like we can go anywhere, and there's more right behind us…"

"Don't jinx it! We won't survive another round!" moaned Jack.

Beside them, Ward growled something. Laguna turned to the big man, wincing at the wounds on his friend.

"What did you say?" Laguna asked, bending down next to Ward.

"I…" Kiros tried talking. He paused for a second, and continued. "I think… his throat… was injured. Lost his… voice…"

"It… was… fu… you…" Ward tried saying, his voice coming out slowly and almost unintelligibly.

"If you're trying to swear at us, that would not be cool," Jack muttered.

"Shush!" Laguna hissed at Jack. "What was that?" he asked, bending closer.

"It… was… fun… you… guys…." Ward finished. "Lag… una… Kir… os… Jack… It was… fun…" He said nothing more, having passed out.

Laguna shook his head at Ward's negative words. He couldn't just give up like that!

"Ward, man, that's way uncool," Laguna said. "Don't say things like that! Just for that, I'm giving you the Cuchi-Cuchi treatment!" Laguna the grabbed one of Ward's arms and raised it, and then proceeded to tickle the huge man, apparently not realizing Ward was unconscious.

"There!" Laguna said with finality, having dealt with Ward. "How'd you like that?"

"You dumbass… embarrassing people doesn't work when they're out like a light. Unless you have a camera," Jack muttered.

"Hmph. Well, when you come to, you're getting it even worse! Anyway, check it out!" Laguna turned to Kiros and pointed over the edge of the cliff. "There're boats down there! We're going back to Galbadia! Only problem is, it's a long way down." Laguna shrugged as he bent over and hoisted Kiros by an arm. He half-walked and half-dragged his comrade to the edge, and then tried to help him down.

Unfortunately, Kiros, at that moment, had passed out, and even if he was conscious, it was doubtful he could have been able to make it even halfway down the cliff before falling.

Laguna was helping Ward up when Kiros splashed into the water four hundred feet below.

The big man met a similar fate as Laguna tried to get him to the ledge. Laguna let out a whistle as he saw Ward splash into the waters. Already, the boats had turned and closed with the two soldiers. Kiros was being hauled on board, and Ward was about to be dragged on too.

"You're not pushing me off!" Jack half yelled. "You'll just mess it up and I'll die from the tumble down the cliff." He heaved himself to his feet and stopped at the edge.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Laguna asked.

"Shut up! These things take a little time to prepare. It's not like jumping off the local town's jetti!" Jack snapped. However he would have no time to prepare as Laguna pushed him off the edge.

"YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD LAGUNAAAAAAAAAA!" Jack roared as he plummeted to the ocean, managing to correct his flight plan before killing himself in what would have been a bellyflop.

"Man, you guys sure have guts," Laguna commented as he began his descent. "You know how high this cliff is? I sure wouldn't jump off it!"

Laguna made it down a few feet before his hands slipped on the rocks. His grip vanished, and the soldier fell.

"Oh, shi-!" Laguna began to shout, before a jutting section of the cliff broke him off mid-sentence, and incidentally broke his right arm as well.

"No way," he muttered as he plummeted. Another section of the cliff jutted out, and Laguna took this one full across his chest, his ribs and left arm pulverized by the impact.

"AHHHHHH!" Laguna screamed (justifiably so) as he bounced, smashed, and plummeted the remaining three hundred feet into the sea below.


	22. Chapter 22: My Old Stomping Grounds

**Chapter 22: My Old Stomping Grounds**

I opened my eyes to see a pair of blue and violet eyes looking down at me. "Well… this is a nice surprise," I smiled as I realised that it was Shiva's eyes I was looking at and that my head was in her lap.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Ok. Are Quistis, Squall and Selphie up yet?" At that point there was a soft moan from the brunette as she sat up, followed by Quistis and Squall. I sat up as well, and completely missed the pout Shiva made as I did so.

"So Squall, must suck for you to be inside Laguna, the bumbling nincompoop," I grinned.

The lone wolf, who was become less of a loner as time went by, sighed. "Tell me about it," he replied.

"So it was Laguna again?" Zell asked as Squall and I brushed a few dead leaves out of our hair and stood up, the women doing the same. Rinoa was beside Selphie and Zell looked like he had been pacing a bit.

"Sir Laguna's in big trouble!" Selphie exclaimed.

"_Sir_ Laguna? Seriously?" I asked incredulously while Squall raised an eyebrow himself.

"Why not?" she replied.

"He's too goofy for a Sir. How bout Loony Laguna?" I offered. This got a small smile from Squall. But Selphie…

"No way! That's no good!" she replied with a glare in my direction.

"Ohh, scary scary…" I grinned cheekily.

"Doesn't seem like the first time for you all," Quistis commented, shaking her head. She looked disoriented, but this was her first time so it was no surprise. "What is this? Has this happened before?"

"Yep. We don't get it, but we decided to figure it out when we have some time to do so," I replied.

"But seriously, what is it?" Zell asked, confused.

"Like I said, another time. We need to get moving to Galbadia Garden first," I said. I began to walk forward, intending to take the lead this time, but a sudden wave of dizziness came over me. I collapsed to one knee as my whole world swam in front of my eyes. "What the…" I managed to slur out before my vision blacked out.

* * *

_I woke to the feeling of someone shaking my arm. I opened my eyes to see a dark brown haired and brown eyed kid trying to wake me up._

"_Josh! Wake up Josh!" the kid whispered loudly._

"_What is it Squally?" I asked as I yawned._

"_It's time for breakfast! C'mon! Everyone is waiting for you!" the kid urged as he tugged on my arm._

"_All right, all right!" I mumbled as I yawned again. Squall released my arm and dashed out of the bedroom._

_I sat up and looked around. I was in a stone room with two bunks and a single bed sat surrounding a low table. I was in the single bed. I swung my legs around and shifted them around until I found my slippers. Finding them quickly enough I stood up and walked out of the room, yawning as I went._

"_Took you long enough Josh!" a bratty voice called out as I entered the kitchen._

"_Shut it Seifer. It's too early for your shenanigans," I growled out tiredly as I sat at a table with several other kids. The one that I had replied to was a kid with very short blonde hair. Next to him sat a girl with honey blonde hair. On the left side of the table sat Squall and a spiky blonde boy with blue eyes. Opposite of them sat a brown haired boy and girl. And next to me sat an older girl with dark brown hair._

"_So what's on the menu today Ellie?" I asked the older girl next to me._

"_Porridge today," she replied._

"_Yay! Porridge!" the spiky blonde boy cheered loudly._

"_Shhhh Zell!" Squall hushed as Zell could be a bit loud sometimes._

"_Porridge, porridge, it's so fun!" the brunette sung slightly off tune. But she didn't seem to care. Neither did the brown haired boy next to her. "So what are we doing today guys?" he asked._

"_I dunno Irvine. Maybe go down to the beach?" the honey blonde girl offered._

"_Sounds good to me Quistis," I agreed._

"_Then it's settled!" the girl who was singing to herself said._

"_True that Selphie," Irvine nodded._

"_Ok kids! Breakfast is ready!" called a voice. We all turned to see a beautiful woman with long glossy black hair and kind eyes. She was thin, but an inner strength seemed to shine inside of her. She carried a big pot with her._

"_Matron!" almost everyone greeted._

"_Good morning Edea. Sleep well?" I asked._

"_I did indeed Josh, thank you for asking. Now eat up everyone!" she replied as she set the pot in the middle of the table and began dolling out the porridge._

* * *

"What's wrong with him?" Shiva asked, very worried.

"I dunno. Could he be doing that experience you all were having again?" Ifrit asked Squall.

Squall shrugged. "We need to get moving. Can one of you carry him?" he asked the GFs.

"I can," Amy replied before she focused and morphed into her true form. Shiva then picked Josh off the ground and Amy wrapped her tails around his body. She then curled her tails until Josh was wrapped securely in them.

"Looks like he'll be safe," Diablos said. "We'll guard him and Amy if monsters come attacking."

"I got his sword," Ifrit said as he bent down and shouldered the massive blade. "Good thing it's so light," he muttered.

"Let's go," Shiva offered. Squall nodded before he took point with the rest of the party following.

* * *

"_C'mon Josh, the water's great!" Selphie cried out in happiness as she frolicked in the sea, kicking up water left and right._

"_In a sec!" I yelled back as I lugged a large picnic basket down to the beach. Zell was hovering around me, hoping for an early bite to eat. "Go swim a bit Zell. You won't miss out, I promise." This seemed to placate the blonde ball of energy as he bolted for the ocean._

_I turned to see Ellone carrying a similar basket. "You ok there Elle?" I asked._

"_I'm alright. Have you seen Matron?" she asked._

"_Said she would be down in a sec," I replied as I set the basket down on a rug that Irvine had rolled out. I then stood up and stretched as I watched Seifer dunk Zell's head into the water. At that moment Squall came up to Ellone and began to tug on the side of her swimsuit. "C'mon Sis! Let's go play!" he pleaded._

"_Ok Squall!" she replied as she dashed to the water with Squall tailing behind her._

"_Aren't you going in too?" asked a kind voice and I turned around to see Edea walk down to the beach. She had stripped out of her usual long and plain dark grey gown and now wore a one piece swimsuit of the same colour. The swimsuit hugged her very curvy body in all the right places. When she wore her dress it was always very loose and very modest. But now her wonderful body was out for everyone to gawk at, especially me._

_I had a crush on Edea that I never admitted to anyone. So when I saw her walk towards me I blushed and turned around so she wouldn't see me with my face on fire._

"_In a minute. I just want to take in the sights first," I replied. I then cried out in alarm as two feminine arms wrapped themselves under my own arms and hoisted me into the air._

"_Ahh! That's cheating Edea!" I called out as she carried me to the water. She sure was stronger than she looked. When she didn't stop I began to get a little nervous. But then again, her breasts sure felt nice against my back. "Hang on a sec! You know that I like to take my time in getting in!" She then tossed me in, laughing._

_I hit the water and was submerged straight away. I surfaced and glared at Edea who simply continued to laugh. I then got a facefull of water as Squall splashed me._

"_Oh you are so gonna get it now!" I yelled with an evil grin before I pounced after him._

* * *

I awoke to one of the most wonderful feelings I had ever experienced. I felt like I was wrapped in a very soft blanket. I also had the feeling that I was moving as well. I opened my eyes, but all I saw was while.

"Huh? Did I get sent to limbo or something?" I asked out loud.

"Did you hear something?" a muffled familiar female voice asked.

"Uhh… no, I didn't. Why?" a second familiar voice replied, this one male and also muffled.

"Mmm, I could of sworn that I heard a voice," the first voice said.

"Uhh, hello? Where am I?" I asked, louder this time.

"Wait, Josh?" the first voice asked. "Amy, can you open your tails?"

The blanket shifted and a crack of light shone through to hit my eyes. I squinted as the blanket began to gently unfurl itself from me. And then, I was looking around, taking in my surroundings. It seemed that I had been wrapped in Amy's nine tails. I patted the fur. 'No wonder I thought it was a blanket,' I thought.

I looked around to see the faces of Shiva, Ifrit, Diablos, Amy, Squall, Rinoa, Zell, Selphie and Quistis. They all held various levels of concern in their expressions for me.

"Hey guys. How long did I sleep?" I asked before yawning loudly.

"You were out for an hour," Shiva replied, easily looking the most concerned for me.

"Oh, ok then," I replied. I twisted around to look at Amy. "I can walk now. Thanks for carrying me," I smiled gratefully at her.

"Not a problem Josh," she replied as she lowered me to the ground. I got off her tails and wiggled each leg to make sure I didn't have pins and needles. I then took another look around. We had cleared the forest and we were now on the Monteresau Plateau. "Guess we're about 2 hours out from Galbadia Garden," I guessed.

"That's right," Quistis confirmed.

The Monteresau Plateau was a dry, flat region, with significant mineral deposits. The region had often been warred over, first between the natives and the rising power of Galbadia, then between Galbadia and the rising empire of Dollet when that nation was established eighty years ago. Dollet had managed to seize control for a few decades, until another war with Galbadia had lost the nation that region and much of its territory.

Now, the Plateau was officially in Galbadian hands, but one section of the plateau was reserved for a neutral power. Namely, Garden. A vast stretch of southern territory, less rich in ore and resources than the eastern or western ends, was occupied by the largest and wealthiest of the three Gardens.

"Here," Ifrit said as he handed my sword back to me.

"Cheers," I replied and secured the blade back onto my back.

"You sure you're ok to walk?" Shiva asked.

"Yeah Shiv, I'm ok," I assured her.

We then set off with me taking the lead. So far it was flat terrain but it quickly turned into a slightly hillier region.

"We should be within Galbadia Garden's sphere of influence now," Quistis said.

"Are we safe?" Squall asked, to which Quistis shrugged.

"We're safer," she replied. "Headmaster Martine has an arrangement with Galbadia's military to defend this region, but the Galbadian command doesn't necessarily trust him to keep his word." Quistis chuckled lightly. "They're probably suspicious of him because he's so like them."

"Can we trust him?" Squall asked me.

"I don't," I grinned. "The dude is a slippery bastard, being both Master and Headmaster of the Garden, but to the core, he's all politician. He's interested in profit and himself, not the whole organization."

"I already don't like this guy," Zell muttered from the rear.

"Now you can see why I'm so glad to be with Balamb Garden now," I replied. "Don't worry though. If the students and SeeDs find out he handed over fellow SeeDs to Galbadia, he'll be kicked out of his office at the very least. As I said, he's out for money and himself. No way would he do something like that if he wants to keep his job. But I think Quistis should handle the negotiations with Martine. He and I never saw eye to eye, and I was constantly getting in trouble cause I didn't like the super strict regime he was running and kept stepping out of line."

"Hmph," Zell said, scowling. "Fine, but I'll be keeping an eye on him!"

"Same here," Squall added.

"Go for it," I replied.

The hills passed us as we trudged on. After another hour's walking, I began to hear the familiar distant thrumming sounds of labouring engines. Squall glanced at me curiously and I caught the glance.

"Those engines belong to Garden's hoverfoils. We're close. Probably just over this ridge," I replied as I sped up. I then stopped and turned to my fellow GF friends. "Might be best if you get back in my head for the moment. Don't want to confuse these guys." They all nodded and disappeared. I immediately felt their presence in my mind.

"I remember my first time using a hoverfoil. Led my instructor on a merry chase all around the Garden. Boy was that a fun day. Of course I got a whole week of toilet cleaning duty for that. So worth it," I grinned as a new memory popped into my mind.

Hoverfoils were simple exoframes designed to carry a single person in the air. The devices were intended for military and civilian applications, and had revolutionized the way workers built structures and operated in difficult terrain. The devices themselves consisted of a hover engine mounted behind a simple exoframe, where the pilot stood. The pilot's feet rested on pads, and he was strapped into the frame to secure his position. Simple controls in the exoframe's arms allowed for easy flight. Just below the engine there was mounted an equipment module, where one could attach any type of equipment needed.

As we mounted the final hill, we spotted dozens of the hoverfoils flying through the air, many in formations, others performing manuvers. One group was even engaged in a mock dogfight with another formation of hoverfoils. Then, as we and our client crested the hill, Galbadia Garden rolled out below. Rinoa and Selphie gasped, and even Squall and Zell, so used to the grandeur of Balamb Garden, were amazed by the structure below.

What immediately caught our attention was the sheer size of the place. Galbadia Garden's grounds stretched from maybe a quarter of a mile away to the base of the distant cliffs, a distance that covered over half a mile.

Bisecting the vast outer grounds was a tall cliff, nearly a hundred feet higher than the lower section of the grounds. Sweeping out from the cliffs were two massive golden semicircles, one inside the other, that reached out to encompass half of the lower grounds underneath their shadows. In the middle of the cliffs, as if set there by a cosmic gem worker, was a massive ring of blood-red metal construction, the central complex of the Garden. Black markings adorned the crimson surface, marked by hundreds of shining lights and windows. A massive, cobra's head-like protrusion, doubtless the administration wing, loomed over the entrance, making the Garden almost seem as a coiled snake, ready to strike. A glowing blue and black halo, like the one over Balamb Garden, towered over this Garden as well, though this one was held aloft by pillars, not by the unknown forces that supported Balamb's ring.

"Wow," Selphie said, awed. Her words echoed the sentiments of the rest of us, except Quistis and myself, who had known what to expect. Still, I too was entranced by the sight of the beautiful and vast structure, as remembering it was one thing, but seeing it was a whole other ballgame. After several moments of gazing at the splendour of Galbadia Garden, I reminded the group that we still had actually get inside the grounds. We quickly descended the hill and approached the Garden.

A small patrol of one female Galbadia Garden SeeD and three cadets met us at the edge of the grounds, but upon showing our SeeD identification, the guards were more than happy to wave us on. The SeeD in question took a closer look at me before barking a laugh. "Josh! Never thought you'd come back here. Didn't you say you were going to sign up with Balamb?"

A new memory made itself known to me and I remembered that this was one of my mentors while at Galbadia Garden. "Instructor Shannon," I replied with a small smile. "I did and made SeeD, but my first mission went south and this place was the only safe haven around. Plus it's Garden protocol."

"Please, you wouldn't know protocol if I tied you up and spanked you with it," she laughed.

"Well I see you haven't changed," I replied with a wider grin.

"Well I shouldn't keep you any longer. I'm busy whipping these greenhorns into shape," Shannon replied.

"Alright Instructor. Don't tease them too much," I grinned.

"I make no promises," she grinned in reply before she took her squad and continued their patrol.

"Who was that?" Squall asked.

"Instructor Shannon. One crazy bitch. She'd tease you with innuendo before coming down on top of you like a ton of bricks with training," I replied before we continued on.

"The cadets here go on patrols?" Zell asked as we passed numerous plazas, small buildings, and open expanses of woods and grasses. He obviously wasn't familiar with that practice.

"Remember that this Garden trains soldiers as well as SeeDs. That's why their budget is so big. They have military financial backing from Galbadia. She pays a hefty sum to have officers trained here, and the Garden is run like a strict military academy. Part of the training here involves actual patrols of the grounds and scouting into the surrounding landscapes," I replied.

The distant thunder of a gunshot could be heard from the north end of the grounds. "What was that?" Selphie asked.

"Just sharpshooter training. Galbadia Garden makes use of more firearms than Balamb or Trabia. They use the monsters around here for target practice," I explained. I then looked for the source and spotted the sniper in question. While most of the person was unidentifiable, they had a brown cowboy hat on and a tan coat.

"Ahh, Irvine. I should've guessed," I grinned.

"Who?" Zell asked.

"Irvine is the best sniper in the entire Garden," I explained.

"Better than you?" Squall asked.

"With sniper rifles, yeah. I'm better with handguns though," I replied.

Some time and another patrol later, we advanced down the central walkway leading to the entrance of the Garden. We passed a submerged parking garage and neared the front gates, the vast cobra's head leering down at us. The path ahead split around a shining statue with golden lights set into its form, and met again at the entrance. As we passed into the structure itself, one thing stood out immediately: the Garden was draped in a hush, despite the obviously large populace of teenage students.

"Wow," Selphie commented as we passed the attendant at the entrance. Unlike Balamb, which had a cranky, elderly man running the entrance, this Garden had a pair of uniformed and armed SeeDs standing guard. We were waved through into the inside of the Garden.

"Completely different," Selphie added, to which Zell nodded.

"Sure is quiet," he commented, sounding a bit put off by such a calm structure. Balamb Garden was full of life and vitality; Galbadia Garden was silent and reverent, almost like a hushed library or vault.

"Yep. Don't miss this place at all," I replied. "Way too quiet. The parties I threw livened up the place, but the crowd was a little stiff."

"I like it," Squall replied.

"Saw that coming a mile off," I replied, generating soft laughter from the others. Even Squall himself smiled.

"Ok Quistis. Turn on the old charm with this one," I said and she nodded. "I know Martine pretty well. I'll explain the situation to him." Here she directed her voice to us all. "In the meantime, you should feel free to wander around. Just don't cause any disturbances. The rules here are much stricter than those at Balamb, but as we're from another Garden, most of them won't apply to us."

"Well, I'm off to my private spot to train. I'll leave a clone here if you need me," I said before I created a clone and began to walk away.

"Wait, training? For what?" Zell asked.

"Back at Timber I almost got my ass handed to me by that sorceress. I need to train to master my own powers," I replied before continuing.

Back outside I headed straight to one of several blind spots in the patrols around the Garden. Memories continued to filter slowly into recognition as I remembered that I had my own little private training spot out in the surrounding mountains. I sneaked around the side of a building and checked the time on my iPhone.

"5…4…3…2…1…Now!" I muttered to myself before I released my wings and sped into the air, but keeping low. I zoomed along the ground until I reached a familiar outcrop of rock. Here I turned at a 90 degree angle to the right and continued for 500 meters before turning a left, another right, flew for 75 meters, changed course to the left at about 30 degrees before putting on the gas and speeding a final 700 meter stretch into a small valley. I then deactivated my wings and skidded to a stop in front of a large rock.

"Hmmm… it seems as if this was my favourite private training spot where I could get away from all the crap in that place," I muttered. 'Ok. I need to get stronger than Edea. Or at least better hold my own against her. Any ideas?' I thought asked to my friends.

There was a small silence before Shiva spoke up. **"Those wings of yours. Can they channel elemental magic through them?"**

'I dunno,' I replied before releasing my wings and selected a Blizzard spell from my stock. I then focused and imagined the spell draining into my wings. I smiled as I felt the spell do just that. As soon as the feeling had vanished, I looked at my wings and blinked as I saw that small ice crystals had formed on the feathers. "Cool," I grinned.

"**Now try flinging your wings at the large rock over there,"** Shiva continued.

I slowly flexed my wings before quickly flapping them forward toward the rock. I watched in amazement as the small ice crystals dislodged from my wings and impacted the rock, almost instantly creating a patch of crusted glittering ice about 2 meters in diameter. "Super cool!" I grinned excitedly.

"Now let's try a different element," I said to myself and drew a Thunder spell and streamed it into my wings. Soon I saw small yellow sparks dancing around the feathers. I then flung my wings at the rock again and the sparks dislodged from my wings and smashed against the ice. The sparks flitted over the surface for a few seconds before dying out.

"Alright. Now Fire." This effect was shown as my wings began to glow red and small embers rose off the feathers. Flinging the spell created a storm of red hot embers that collided with the ice on the rock, instantly melting it and chipping off fragments of rock from the main body.

"Sweet!" I grinned like a kid who bought a new toy.

"**I'm betting that higher levels of magic with change the effects on your wings and be a lot stronger in attacking. I also think that if you stream the spell into your wings, but shield yourself instead of attacking, the wings could protect you from same elemental spells being used against you,"** Shiva finished up.

'What made you think of this?' I asked in my mind.

"**Well, you could do it with your sword as a Limit Break. So why not with your wings?"** she replied simply.

'That is so ingenious. You are awesome Shiva,' I replied, imagining myself giving her a big hug.

"**!... Y-you're welcome. …Man, that really takes some getting used to,"** she replied as, unseen by me, she wrapped her arms around herself and gave a small smile.

'But maybe we should test the defensive capabilities first before using it in battle,' I replied, clueless on the reaction to the hug.

"**Good idea. Summon me and we'll test it out,"** Ifrit suggested.

A few seconds later, Ifrit was standing in front of me in his avatar form. "Ok, ready yourself, Josh!" he said as he summoned a low level fire spell and crouched, ready to throw it. In turn I streamed another Fire spell into my wings. "Ready!" I replied and wrapped my wings around myself. Despite the heat coming off my wings, as seen by the air rippling slightly around them, I didn't feel anything above a small amount of warmth.

"Firing now!" Ifrit called and he launched the fireball at me. I felt the spell hit my wings, but it did no damage. However both fire spells cancelled each other out.

"Hmm… seems that two spells of the same element and strength will cancel each other out. Perhaps if a low level spell impacted a higher level spell, the defensive elemental shield would not collapse," Ifrit mused.

"Or if I flowed an Ultima into my wings. Would that even work? It's the most destructive spell one can use, aside from your full strength moves you use in your True Form," I replied.

"I'm not sure. Better wait until you get stronger before you take that on," Ifrit advised before his form faded from view and I felt him back inside my mind.

"Good idea. For now I guess I should see if I can use mid and high level elemental spells in this manner," I spoke aloud.

* * *

Thirty minutes later I was back inside Galbadia Garden. Training didn't take as long as I thought it would as streaming elemental spells into my wings felt so natural that I got the hang of it after a few times.

I quickly found Squall with Rinoa in the main courtyard. The place was mostly empty, with only a few cadets and SeeDs moving about purposefully. The reason for the stillness was that classes were in session.

The courtyard had a few plants and standing trees, but was dominated by a massive shaft of light that was created through lamps in the ring above. The light from these lamps was focused down into the middle of the area. A raised platform caught the light, which illuminated the Galbadia Garden symbol.

"Yo," I waved casually as I walked up to my friend.

"Didn't you say you were going to do some training?" Squall asked.

"Yeah, but my new technique was much easier to handle then I thought it was going to be. I'm now confident that I can at least protect myself against most spells, providing I'm quick enough," I replied as I bent down and scratched Angelo behind her ears, to which she loved the treatment. Squall raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "So, what have you guys been doing?" I added.

"Zell and Selphie went off to explore. I stayed here with Rinoa, as per your orders," Squall replied.

"Good work, Squallychums!" I grinned, making Rinoa double over in quiet but strong laughter. Squall simply rolled his eyes.

"So what are you guys doing then?" I asked.

"Rinoa was waiting for you to come back," Squall replied.

"What for?" I asked the girl in question.

"So you two can show me junctioning and to get my own GF!" she replied. "You said that you had a good one for me."

"Oh, so I did. Hang on a sec," I said before focusing on Sukuna. 'Hey, it's been awhile. Feel like sharing your power with Rinoa?'

"**I have no qualms about it, but I would like to meet her face to face, if you don't mind,"** she replied.

'Fine by me,' I replied before I began to summon her. Her appearance began as a heavy raincloud formed over our heads, blocking out the sunlight streaming into the courtyard. Then heavy drops of water began to fall around us, but we didn't get wet. However I felt a small sense of revitalization from every drop that hit me. The water pooled on the floor before all the water glowed a bright green. Then Lifestream-like tendrils rose out of the water and all coalesced into a human form. Then the green light blew away from the form in small green sparks, revealing Sukuna standing in front of us. She looked the same as when I saw her the first and last time, at the Deep Sea Research Station.

"Rinoa, this is Sukuna, the Guardian Force of Healing Rain. Sukuna, this is Rinoa Heartlily," I introduced.

"A pleasure to meet you face to face, my dear," Sukuna greeted with a warm smile.

"Same here. I'm honoured to meet you, Sukuna," the raven haired girl replied respectfully.

The GF then walked over to Rinoa and stood in front of her. She looked deep into her eyes for a few moments before smiling. "I would be glad to be your first GF. I am not an offensive Guardian Force and my talents lie primarily in healing and protection. So any spells you will junction will be used on stats like vitality and defence."

"That's just fine," Rinoa replied, happy that Sukuna had chosen her.

Sukuna then held out her closed hand and focused for a moment. She then opened her eyes and her hand, to reveal a dark green gemstone half the size of her palm. "Here you go dear. Call on me when you need help," she said, handing the gem to me, before she disappeared into what looked like Lifestream energy before those too dissipated.

"Ok Squall, you help out as well," I said. Squall nodded before he pointed to the stone in my hand. "This," he explained, "is a Guardian Force stone. It's the secret to their power and junctioning. You know how to stock spells, right?" Rinoa nodded in response.

"Use your mind and willpower to draw the magic into your body," she said, reciting the basic tenet to magic utilization. "Once you have the energy inside you, you simply focus on it and will it to be released."

"Having a GF will allow you to rely on them to supply the willpower and mind. One just needs to concentrate on the entity and the selection of spells one can draw from the target. They do the rest," I added to the explanation as I handed Squall the gem.

"Okay, here, hold the stone," Squall said, placing the green gem into her hands. He cupped his hands beneath hers. "You've got bare skin contacting the stone, which is good. With some experience you can do this with gloves or other heavy clothing on, but the bare skin will help. I want you to focus on the stone. You can feel the energy inside it, right?"

It was an academic question; merely touching a Guardian Force stone caused a person to feel the tingles of the entity's power. I recalled my first time I held Shiva's stone, and so I knew what Rinoa was feeling as she clutched the gem of power. Her nod confirmed that she was feeling the power.

"You should feel a throbbing sensation, with some tingling, like when your foot or arm falls asleep, right?" Squall asked, to which Rinoa nodded again.

"It'll feel a little disconcerting the first few times. But you'll get used to it in the future," I added.

"Focus on those sensations, just like the energy in a spell," Squall explained. "Draw them in, just like a spell. It works the exact same way, but be ready."

"Why?" she asked, confused and a bit nervous all of a sudden.

"This will feel…" he paused seemingly searching for the right word. "A little strange. Draw it in."

Rinoa nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on the stone. As we watched, the dark green stone shimmered and then began to melt into Rinoa's skin. Within moments, the stone was gone, absorbed wholly by her will alone. As if on cue, the moment the stone vanished, Rinoa gasped. She pulled her hands away from Squall's and touched her head, blinking her eyes in confusion.

We both smiled; myself more than Squall, knowing everything was fine. Rinoa was dealing with the first effects of junctioning a living, thinking entity unto herself. The presence of another mind, however distant and alien, was disconcerting to someone whose thoughts and inner mind were their own private place.

"You won't be able to make out the words, but Sukuna is talking to you," I said, to which Rinoa nodded quickly.

"I warned you it would feel strange. Don't worry, though, you'll get used to them if you junction them long enough," Squall said.

"It feels like she's taking part of my brain," Rinoa said, shaking her head.

"Well remember what Ifrit and Diablos said. For non-sorcerers, the GFs store themselves in the part of the brain that focuses on long-term memory. Have them junctioned for long enough, and they will start to supress memories. Usually the early memories are the first to go, but can still be remembered either via dreams, or using a form of sensory stimuli. And the effect is not permanent, as one only needs to unjunction them for a period of a few months before the memories return," I explained. She nodded in understanding but still looked a little uncomfortable at the experience.

"If you want, I can take her back," I offered, but Rinoa shook her head quickly.

"No, no," she said, holding up a hand. "I'd prefer it if she stayed. I want to get used to this." She smiled faintly. "Don't want to be a burden on you guys. If I can junction like you, I can protect myself."

I grinned slyly. "Well maybe Squally likes the damsel-in-distress type of girl, you never know," I said, and chuckled as Squall lightly glared at me. Rinoa's glare was a lot more potent and there was a light blush mixed in as well.

It was at this point that I spotted a man approach us. He was heavily muscled, with a stern expression. He wore a black and white uniform with a black cap and a dangling silver whistle around his neck. Another set of rather unpleasant memories welled up from oblivion and into my conscious mind as I recognised him.

"Instructor Samuels," I greeted without emotion.

"Cadet Kitsuné," Samuels replied with slight distain.

"It's SeeD now… actually," I corrected him, not remembering good memories about this guy.

"Hmph, I suspect sheer dumb luck was the overall factor of your graduation," he said with insultingly and sicking superiority. He then addressed all of us. "I assume you three are with the SeeD party from Balamb Garden?"

"We are," I replied, but Samuels ignored me.

"Good. Follow me." He turned without another word and led us to the northern end of the courtyard. Squall, Rinoa and I followed, Angelo close behind, as the man entered a corridor. After traveling for several minutes down a long, stark white and grey hallway marked periodically by classroom doors, the man stopped next to a stairwell.

"There's a waiting room at the top of the stairs," he explained. "Second floor, two doors down. The rest of your group is there." Without another word, the instructor turned and strode off. In turn I growled softly and gave the finger to the guy's retreating back with a lot of emotion.

"Such friendly people around here," Rinoa deadpanned as we ascended the staircase.

"You have history with that guy?" Squall asked.

"Yeah. Instructor Dickhead Samuels. He's not the most friendliest guy to his charges, but he really had it out for me from the first day I was in his class. At the time I was known as the clown of the class, despite earning reasonably high scores. But he's a military guy, through and through. He despises people who don't adhere to protocol and rules. He always did everything he could to put me 'in my place'. Trying to embarrass me in front of the class, asking me questions not related to the subject matter, replying sarcastically in a nasty way when I got them right. And I was always doing detention with him, even when I actually hadn't done anything wrong. And he was always blaming me for every little thing. I'll be so glad to be rid of this shithole," I replied. They both had different reactions to this tale. Rinoa was, understandably, shocked at the treatment this teacher dished out. Squall's expression was a lot more controlled, but I could tell he was disgusted at this.

We found the reception room easily enough, and entered. We found a richly appointed chamber that featured couches, a coffee table, and even a small refrigerator. Zell and Selphie were already in the room when the three of us and the dog entered, the martial artist lounging on a couch impatiently while Selphie stood at a massive window that overlooked the outdoor running track. Zell nodded as we entered, but said nothing.

Squall and I took a seat while Rinoa still stood. She walked to the fridge and opened it, then frowned and shut it. Squall sent her a quizzical look, and she shook her head.

"Nothing but tuna sandwiches," she muttered, making a face, and sat down as well. We then got up, checking the fridge ourselves. I took out one of the sandwiches, which was indeed tuna, and removed it from its plastic wrap. Rinoa made another face as I took a bite.

"You like that stuff?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I love tuna," I replied as I took another bite. "Mmmm…"

"How can you like that stuff?" she asked, horrified at the sight.

"Quite easily. I don't like mushrooms though," I said.

"You don't like mushrooms?" she asked in surprise.

"See?" I grinned. I took another sandwich before sitting down, Squall doing the same as me. We then silently munched away as we waited for Quistis to give us the news.


	23. Chapter 23: Assassination Order

**Chapter 23: Assassination Order**

We waited another twenty minutes, until Zell finally lost his patience. He growled something about the staff taking too much time, when the door slid open and Quistis entered.

"So how'd it go?" I asked her as I stood up, tossing the plastic wrapper in a garbage can. Squall, Zell and Rinoa rose as well.

"They understand our situation," Quistis assured them. "We're safe here for now." Quistis then turned to Zell. "And Balamb Garden is safe. The attack on the President in Timber was classified as an independent action. The rebels attempted to cover their own actions by blaming Garden. Or at least, that's what the government is saying. There was an official notice from the Galbadian government saying that Balamb Garden is not being held responsible and that 'the government of Galbadia will not be provoked to foolish actions by such childish trickery.'"

"See Zell, nothing to worry about," I grinned at my friend. Zell visibly slumped in relief at the news, then sat back up as another thought hit him.

"So, is Seifer taking all the blame?" he asked. Quistis hesitated, and turned away for a moment. She glanced at Rinoa, who was watching intently.

"Galbadia's known for its speedy judicial system," Quistis said quietly. "The trial's already been completed, and the… the sentence was carried out."

For almost everyone in the room, the words struck like a bomb. Zell jerked as if a bottle was smashed over his head, while Selphie's mouth dropped open. Rinoa's legs suddenly seemed weak, and she sunk down to the floor, hit hard by the news. Squall and I were the only ones to not show any outward emotion, though I was sure Squall too was shocked, even if the outcome was one he was probably expecting all along.

"He was executed?" Rinoa asked quietly, to which Quistis nodded.

"Of course he was," Rinoa then whispered, almost too quietly to hear. "He attacked the President. He… he sacrificed himself for us. For me." As she said this, Rinoa stood and looked away, out the window.

"You're part of a resistance group," Quistis said. "You were prepared for this eventuality, right? I'm sure Seifer was too, if he was as dedicated to the cause as I saw in him." Quistis put a hand on Rinoa's shoulder, like a big sister, which didn't surprise me in the least. Another brief flash of Quistis doing the same thing to a young version of myself flashed over my sight before disappearing. "He knew what he was doing. Don't think of him as sacrificing himself for you."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I'm calling bullshit on the government executing Seifer," I said, deciding to try and keep moral up. Everyone in the room turned to me, silently demanding an explanation for what I was saying. "That was a sorceress who beckoned Seifer away. If she knew that he was going to be executed, she would have killed him as soon as his guard dropped. She has a plan for him, that much I'm certain of, and there's no way the government of Galbadia would go against her wishes if she's sided with them. This statement is most likely meant to misguide us or somehow lower moral." I looked around and internally smiled as hope or relief of varying levels was shown on each face.

"I guess you've got a point there. And you would know more about them than any of us would, right?" Quistis asked.

"Just because I am one of them, doesn't mean that I know how they think. Each one is different, just like each human being is different. Can't judge someone's personality based on their looks or background, right?"

She blinked before nodding. "Yeah, I guess."

"So let's stop moping," I grinned before the door to the reception room slid open. We turned to see another instructor, who scanned the room before locking eyes on me.

"Come with me, Kitsuné," the man said, waving for me to follow.

"I'll be back in a sec," I said to my friends before I followed the instructor outside. The man led me down the hallway to the top of the stairwell, where I saw a familiar huge, burly form, beside a petite woman.

"Josh, right?" Raijin boomed as I approached the two.

"Yep, that's me," I replied.

"Looking for you," Raijin replied. "We're running a message from Cid, ya know? New orders. The HD cables are down again, so we had to deliver it personally, ya know."

"Seems like there's always something wrong with those things," I replied, resolving to fix that problem after Ultimecia was dealt with. 'Satelites. Gotta love em,' I mentally grinned. "So what's the order?"

"I dunno," Raijin replied, shrugging. "I gave it to that Marty guy who's head honcho here. Just did what Cid wanted, ya know?"

"Yeah, and?" I asked, prompting them to explain some more.

"EXPLAIN," Fujin ordered her brother, who nodded.

"We were supposed'ta go to Timber, since ya'll were there on the secret hush-hush mission," Raijin said. "But we didn't find you in Timber. You probably left before we could find you, ya know? Anyway, the trains were down, so we rented a car and drove north, since if you weren't in Timber then you'd probably be headed here, ya know? Kinda relieved to see you guys here."

I nodded, before I noticed Fujin was scanning the area.

"SEIFER?" she asked, to which Raijin nodded.

"Oh, yeah, wasn't Seifer with you?" the big man asked. "We knew he was headed for Timber to help you guys out after he escaped."

"Well the last I saw of the guy was him switching sides to Galbadia thanks to their sorceress. Galbadia has since reported that Seifer was executed but I doubt that very much," I replied.

"Ha! Yeah, Seifer'd never put up with a trial, ya know! Or an execution, for that matter! That's just not Seifer, ya know!"

"FIND!" Fujin stated definitively.

"Right! We'll find him!" Raijin proclaimed with a hefty nod.

"Try Deling City. Seifer is most likely with the Sorceress. If they're anywhere, they'll be there," I suggested.

"Thanks man," Raijin thanked. Fujin offered her hand and gave a strong handshake with a nod, which was more than I expected from her. "See ya later, Josh!" With that, the two cadets turned and left, bounding down the stairs.

I just shook my head in amusement at the two. **"Why did you help those two?"** Bahamut asked.

'Because those two are Seifer's only real friends. I don't like to see people separated from their best buddies no matter who they are. Besides, pointing them in the right direction won't hurt us,' I replied.

"Headmaster Martine wants you and your group to meet him at the gates concerning the orders he received," the instructor who led me here explained.

"Marty knows we're currently on a mission?" I asked, using my nickname for the guy. The instructor's eyes narrowed but nothing more. "The orders _Headmaster Martine_ have received supersede your current assignment," the instructor explained. "This mission has priority over all other orders. The other members of your squad have been notified and will join you outside at the designated area."

"Sure thing," I replied before I vaulted over the balcony, landed on the floor below and walked out of the foyer.

* * *

Naturally I was the first one there, so I took out my iPhone and began to listen to music while I waited. But I didn't have to wait long. First out was Zell, looking a little out of breath.

"What are you tired out for?" I asked.

"Did a few exercises with a few of the older students. Their training is insane! How did you survive?" he asked.

Another memory popped up in my mind and I remembered the vicious training program my past self had to go through. Some might even call it suicidal.

"Now you know how I'm able to carry this mega sword around now," I replied.

"Yeah," he nodded before squatting down on the ground.

Next out was Selphie and Quistis. They acknowledged us but didn't say anything. Most likely they were thinking about the mystery mission we were about to get.

And finally Squall and Rinoa joined up with us. I checked the time on my phone. Classes were still in session, so there were almost no students or SeeDs out, excepting the occasional patrol, and the exoframes in the sky above.

There was silence before Squall spoke up. "Rinoa," he said, stepping over to her. Our client sat on a stone railing separating the main path leading to the entrance from a large garden. She looked up as he approached.

"There may be a problem," he said. Rinoa quickly nodded, understanding the situation before Squall said anything further.

"Pretend I'm another SeeD," she said quickly. "Best to avoid complications, after all." Squall nodded.

I grinned as I walked over to them. "She's quick, ain't she?" I said before elbowing Squall in the side in a friendly manner. "Better watch out Squally or she'll have you twisted round her little finger." I got a flat look from the stoic gunblade specialist and a flushed face from Rinoa.

"Ok, now, this is the SeeD salute. If you fuck up, the guy will know, so get to practicing," I said to Rinoa as I stood at attention, bringing my right hand up in front of my face, palm inward.

She jumped off the railing and mimicked the salute fairly well. "When will I need to do it?" she asked, but it was Squall who answered.

"When he arrives and when he dismisses us," he said and Rinoa nodded in conformation.

It was at this point I saw movement out of the corner of my eye so I turned and watched as a car made its way over to us from the complex, emblazoned with the Garden symbol. "Bout time," I grumbled as I walked over to stand in the centre of the road. "Ok, people, form up," I ordered and everyone obeyed, walking over to stand beside me. Rinoa told Angelo to move somewhere out of sight. The dog obeyed and scurried away. I was situated in the middle with Squall and Quistis flanking me. Zell and Selphie stood next to Quistis on the left side while Rinoa stood next to Squall on the right. Moments later, the Garden vehicle pulled up in front of us.

The passenger door swung open, and out stepped a tall man, moving with a fluid, yet regal pace. He wore a long blue coat with gold trim, fashioned in an old style, like that of Dollet's officers from several decades ago. The coat was fastened across the man's chest by a trio of archaic cloth fasteners, and a bandoleer ran from the middle of his right waist down to his lower left waist.

Headmaster Martine Cayes squinted his eyes as he looked us over. His face was heavily wrinkled, and an almost imperceptible white scar traced itself across the left side of his face, down to his neck. He wore his greying blonde hair long; fastened into a ponytail at the back of his head. As he scrutinized my group, Matrine clasped his hands behind his back and stood tall. In response, we quickly stood at attention, and saluted smartly as one, Rinoa a split second behind us.

"Good day," he told us with a nod, after several long seconds. His voice was cultured, almost aristocratic, that of a man from Dollet. He looked over us again, and he caught my eye. The man gave a very slight nod in my direction before he began pacing back and forth, looking down at the pavement.

"I have official orders from Headmaster Cid addressed to you," he began. "As per regulations, considering you are temporarily stationed in my Garden, I have reviewed these orders. After considering the options and information that we ourselves have been gathering concerning this operation, we have opted to fully assist Headmaster Kramer in this mission." Martine paused, and turned back to us.

"To tell the truth, we ourselves were planning something similar for quite some time now," Martien continued. We waited patiently through the Headmaster's explanation and though I knew what he was going to say, I was sure the others were curious as to what the man was leading up to. "In order to stress to you the importance of this mission, I must first brief you on the current situation." Then, almost as an afterthought, Matrine spoke again. "At ease."

I sighed softly as I and the rest of us relaxed into more casual stances. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for Marty to continue.

"You were in Timber recently," Matrine said. It was a statement, not a question. "And you observed the announcement by Vinzer Deling concerning the Sorceress being appointed as ambassador. We have been tasked recently with gathering intelligence concerning this Sorceress." Martine paused at a questioning blink from Zell. "Yes, we were aware that a Sorceress had resurfaced. We had thought the only active Sorceress was the one in Esthar, Adel, but this one we had discovered recently. She has been acting in concert with Vinzer Deling over the last year, but to what end we do not know. Until now."

I could feel the others wanting to glance my way, but thankfully, they did not.

"The Sorceress has been appointed as ambassador, but in reality, this ambassador thing is just a lie," Martine continued. "There will be no talks or negotiations with other nations, merely threats and force. The Sorceress creates fear and awe. As an emissary, she could cow any other nation's leader by her mere presence, not to mention the magical powers at her disposal, including abilities such as the power to read minds and subvert victims with her willpower. In such a state, peace talks are meaningless.

"Galbadia is planning to put the Sorceress' power to use in conjunction with the Galbadian military to completely dominate the western world," Martine said, waving a hand emphatically. "No nation will be able to resist this combination of the innate fear of the Sorceress and a military juggernaut backing any claims and threats Galbadia makes. Deling's ultimate goal is nothing short of world domination. Garden is no exception; in fact, Garden is one of the first targets on their hit list."

That bit of news hit the others in my group. Garden, which had always been neutral in most struggles, had often been the thorn in the side of many military powers and rouge groups. However, none had ever attacked or even threatened Garden before, mostly due to the fact that they could just as easily hire Garden to turn its sizeable military power against the enemies they had been backing just days before. In the words of one SeeD, Garden could save a government one day then overthrow it the next. By being useful, Garden was immune.

I glanced at Squall and could see that he was confused. Most likely about the declaration from Galbadia that Garden was not being held responsible for the attack in Timber. If Galbadia was targeting Garden, why had Garden been exonerated from a perfect excuse to attack? I knew, of course, that this was a trap to lure us in, and therefore be caught by Galbadia.

I sighed internally, knowing that my choice to play these events by the book meant that I would need to see this through to the end. I wanted to keep my knowledge of the future events intact so I could minimise collateral as much as possible. I had faith that I could do it, but it also meant that I would need to have a few events from the game to happen in this world. I wasn't looking forward to allowing Squall go through electric interrogation, but I promised myself that I would not abandon him. 'I gotta start thinking on how to avoid capture at Deling City,' I thought to myself before Martine's voice pulled me out of my internal debate.

"The Galbadian military is preparing even now for war," Martine informed the group. "The Sorceress intends to turn Galbadia Garden into her base of operations, and to seize any other Gardens she can. The statement issued earlier today was merely a reassurance intended to make us drop our guard. In reality, if we allow Deling and his Sorceress to remain, war will be inevitable. We have very few options available to us that will prevent this war." Martine paused again, then met my eyes.

"As the single best SeeD to have come out of Garden, Kitsuné, we have no one better to entrust this mission to," Matrine told me, which, skimming through my surfacing memories of the guy, was very high praise indeed. He reached into his pocket and drew out a set of folded papers.

"Official orders," Martine stated. "All details of the operation are enclosed here. Destroy these papers when you have read them. Good luck."

"Thank you sir," I replied formally and respectfully, snapping off a quick salute which was echoed by the rest of the squad. He then handed me the papers. I quickly scanned the contents and knew that the mission was to remain the same. I then paused at a spot and looked up. "I may be somewhat skilled with a sniper rifle, but we need someone more skilled than I with one," I said.

"Don't worry," Martine assured me. "As part of our cooperation with Headmaster Kramer, we are going to attach one of our own SeeDs to your group."

I grinned and asked, "Irvine?"

Martine chuckled softly. "Indeed." Martine turned to face away from the group, towards the west side of the grounds. "Kinneas! Irvine Kinneas!" he called. In response, a brown-clad figure laying back on a nearby hilltop moved.

As we watched, he reached up with a black fingerless glove and pretended to shoot a butterfly out of the air. Then, the figure sat up quickly, and I noticed the black hat he wore on his head; a wide- brimmed hat made famous by countless movies about Galbadian frontiersmen. He had long brown hair, loose around the front of his face and worn into a long ponytail at the back. As he rose, a large, weathered brown trench coat could be made out, matching the brown and equally weathered pants. He turned to face us, and one could see the sleeveless, dark blue denim vest he wore beneath the coat. He grinned at us with a boyish smile and large blue eyes, and casually shouldered a powerful, solid-looking double-barrelled rifle.

"This," Martine stated as the man, a SeeD probably barely any older than most of us, calmly swaggered down the hill towards my group, "is Irvine Kinneas. He is your sniper. A certified expert on firearms of all types." Martine turned back to us.

"You may leave whenever you are ready," he added. "Failure is not an option, for both Garden and the world." With that, Martine returned to his vehicle and climbed in through the passenger door. The vehicle then pulled back and drove away swiftly, just as Irvine reached the bottom of the hill. He glanced over to the disappearing car, and with his free hand pretended to fire a pistol at it, even adding sound effects. He then "twirled" his mock pistol and slid it into an imaginary holster, before turning back to the rest of the group.

His eyes then locked with mine, and I instantly knew what to do. I saw him ready his rifle and I pulled Oathkeeper from my holster, walking over to him. I could hear the slight scraping of boots on the pavement, knowing that the members behind me had readied themselves for a fight.

I stopped about a meter away from him. Then, as one, we raised our firearms at a 45 degree angle toward each other and clicked them together as some sort of custom salute of respect.

"Irvine," I nodded to him.

"Kitsuné," he replied.

We then both grinned widely and embraced each other, laughing loudly. "I never thought you'd return to this place, man," he said.

"Mission went haywire in Timber so we had to come here," I replied.

"Your first mission as a SeeD was a failure?" he asked in surprise.

"Not quite, V. Shit just hit the fan, is all," I replied.

"Ahh, happens to the best of us," he said before looking over at the rest of the group, who were now relaxing their stances. His eyes then widened very slightly before he turned around, his arm pulling me around as well so we were facing away from the group.

"Are they…?" he asked, and I immediately knew what he was on about.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Do they-?"

"No."

"Why not?" he asked.

"GF junctioning blocks a few long term memories. Childhood ones are much more susceptible to be blocked," I replied.

"Damn…" he muttered.

"Keep this to yourself, ok? I'm sure they'll remember eventually, but we need to focus on the mission and we can't have them distracted, ok?" I asked. "I'll fill you in on everything that's happened soon, I promise."

Irvine hesitated before nodding. "You're right, as always."

"Hey, you were the more popular one out of us two in Galbadia. Someone's gotta keep you off your high horse," I grinned.

He barked a laugh. "Right," he replied before he released me and we walked over to the group.

"So, you know him?" Zell asked.

"Yeah, I do. We were best buddies when I was here. One of the few bright sparks in this place," I replied.

"Why thank you," he replied before he bent into a short bow, tipping his black hat in the direction of Rinoa, Quistis, and Selphie. "Greetings. Always nice to work with ladies." He then turned back to Squall and Zell. "You two don't look like slouches either," he added, smiling. Zell scowled, and I chuckled. "Don't worry Zell, he's not another jerkass like Seifer." He blinked before relaxing.

"You cool with me helping you?" the sharpshooter asked.

"That depends on your attitude," Squall replied with a shrug.

"I may say things that would get a rise out of some people," Irvine explained. "It's just a joke, so don't let it bother you and we'll get along fine." Squall nodded.

"Well, I'm Team Leader, got it?" I asked, stressing the Leader bit. Irvine just chuckled at that. "Sure thing, Mr. Leader."

"So I'm Irvine Kinneas," the sharpshooter replied with another tip of the hat. "Though I'm sure King Turd of Shit Mountain over there already told you. That guy really needs to take the oak tree out of his ass…" Irvine then shrugged. "Not that it really matters. So, the old man briefed you on the job?"

"Yeah, Marty did so," I replied.

"So? What are they?" Selphie asked.

"We're off to off the Galbadian Sorceress. Guess it's a good thing I did some training and discovered a few new tricks," I replied as I looked at everyone's reactions. As expected, there was some surprise, but for the most part, everyone knew and understood what Martine had been leading up to in his explanation.

"Irvine is to perform the assassination," I said, nodding to the sharpshooter. "He will snipe the Sorceress from a distanced, concealed position. Should the sniper fail, we are to eliminate her ourselves." Irvine smiled and fingered his rifle again.

"Thanks for the support," he replied, "but I never miss my target."

"Sorceress can throw up barriers to protect themselves. You'll need to catch her off guard to succeed," I noted. "We are to head for the Galbadian capital, Deling City," I held up a set of papers, the majority of the content in the folded set I had received from Martine. "These will get us inside the city. They've been forged by our contact we are supposed to meet."

"Who's the contact?" Zell asked, looking over the identification.

"General Fury Caraway," I replied, looking at the name. "He's the head honcho for Badie's military and the head of defence around the capital and the Great Plains of Galbadia."

"Caraway?" Rinoa asked suddenly, her voice uncertain. Squall turned to her and nodded.

"Something wrong?" he asked, to which Rinoa shook her head quickly. Too quickly.

"Rinoa, are you hiding something?" I asked, to which she shook her head, more emphatically.

"No, I've just heard his name mentioned before," she replied, looking away, her eyes not meeting neither mine nor Squall's. We watched her for a second, then turned back to the others. But I could tell from the look we shared that he was still suspicious.

"General Caraway knows the details of this operation," I continued. "It says that we need to meet him soon, by tomorrow. We'll need to get our asses in gear."

"Well, then," Irvine said, smiling. "We'll need to split up into teams. I'm sure we'll be operating as a cohesive force, but until we get to know each other better, I'd suggest we form smaller groups of, perhaps three each?" He then walked quickly off to one side. "Perhaps you two," he said, placing his hands on Rinoa's and Selphie's shoulders. "would be good teammates with me?"

"I know your game, and it's not gonna happen. Rinoa is under the protection of Squall over here," here I pointed to the gunblade user.

"Under the protection?" Irvine asked. He gave Rinoa a questioning look. "Boyfriend?"

Rinoa had a good laugh at that, and Squall snorted. He crossed his arms and glared at Irvine.

"Rinoa isn't a SeeD," Quistis explained. "She's a civilian, and the client for Josh's team. And as team leader, he has the right to assign bodyguards and has done so with Squall along with Zell and Selphie." Zell and Selphie nodded in accord, while Irvine simply shrugged, conceding defeat.

"Get used to it, cowboy. We're all sticking together," I finished up and Irvine sighed in defeat.

"How good are you with that?" Squall asked, motioning to the heat Irvine was packing, to which he laughed. He quickly spun, raising the rifle and levelling it at an unseen target.

"I've been training with guns like this since I came here," Irvine replied. "For me, guns aren't weapons, they're extensions of the body, and part of my very soul." He lowered the rifle and turned to face us.

"This," he said, holding the double-barrelled rifle out for inspection, "is the Galbadian Special ME-22 Valiant Multipurpose Assault Weapon, possibly one of the best rifles in the world. It can hit a target at one thousand feet within a diameter of two inches using standard ammunition, and features recoil compensators in the stock and grip to reduce the shock of firing." Irvine then flicked a lever on the rifle, and opened a pair of revolver-style rotating chambers behind the barrels.

"This weapon can accommodate over a dozen different types of shells and rounds," he explained. "It uses standard fifty calibur Action Express rounds, the kind you only see in heavy revolvers and rifles, but it can be fitted with special shotgun, high explosive, grenade, or flame rounds. The Valiant can even be set to fire on fully automatic setting as well, if you have magazines for the bullets. All of which I have in plentiful supply." Irvine opened his coat to show pockets filled with shells and rounds, as well as several large magazines of ammunition. With the coat opened, one could also see a pair of revolvers in holsters beneath Irvine's arms, well-hidden from view.

"Those are my backups," Irvine added as he noticed Squall looking at the revolvers. "Six-shooters with .357's. More than enough to kill anything that moves." He flashed the group a smile, and the other's respect for the sharpshooter went up a bit. At least he wasn't all bluster.

"Irvine is much better than me with using rifles. But I've got him beat in using handguns," I replied. "But he's no slouch. He's the closest you'll come to a walking, talking Galbadian Armoury and his knowledge on Galbadian weaponry and tech is substantial."

"It's the truth, Josh here is ton's better with his custom made M1911 pistols then I am with my girls," here he holstered his rifle and patted the two revolvers. "By the way, I reckon you're due for an upgrade. Think you're gonna pay James a visit in Deling City before the mission?"

I blinked as I didn't even consider modelling my guns up a level. "That's not a bad idea. And he's the only one that could do it in that kind of timeframe." James, as it turned out in my memories of him, was the one who made Oblivion and Oathkeeper when I was still studying at Galbadia Garden.

"Well, we need to get a mousy on if we're gonna get to Deling City by nightfall," I said before I pointed to the southwest end of the grounds, where there was a train station for commuters to and from the heart of Galbadia. No one disagreed, and we headed off.

As we crossed the grounds, Irvine expressed some curiosity for those he was going to be working with. He knew Squall was a gunblade specialist simply by his weapon, and I was a no brainer since we knew each other's skills almost perfectly, but he was uncertain about the rest of his new team.

"Well Selphie Tilmitt is our magic specialist. She's also loves to blow shit up and drives like her ass is on fire," I explained, gesturing to Selphie, who erupted into giggles. Irvine smiled and nodded, though I caught something extra in the sharpshooter's expression. Seems like he never shook off that crush for her from our childhood.

"Pleased to meet," Irvine said with another tip of his hat.

"Zell Dincht is a master of ass kicking and has a massive crush on hotdogs," I grinned, gesturing to Zell, who grinned as well, but gave me the finger at the hotdog remark.

"Quistis Trepe is a former hot teacher Instructor and predictably has her own fanclub of stalkers," I continued, gesturing to Quistis. She nodded, blushing at the hot remark, and Irvine tipped his hat as well.

"So, you're the blue magic specialist I heard about," Irvine commented, his words catching the attention of the rest of the group. I saw Squall glance back at Quistis, looking curious. I guessed he already knew that Quistis was skilled at monster magic, though we had never seen it in action.

Blue mages operated by learning how to manipulate the energies of monsters and other nonstandard magic techniques. They were most common in Trabia, either in the Garden or operating in the wilderness, studying the animals and were few enough in Balamb, and almost unheard of in Galbadia, which explained why Irvine knew about Quistis.

"Yes," Quistis replied with a slightly embarrassed nod. "The only blue mage to have ever attended Galbadia Garden."

"I heard blue magic wasn't easy to learn," Zell commented, to which Quistis nodded.

"The skill is hard to learn unless you're born with the knack. Something having to do with genetics," she said with a shrug. "I have a knack for learning how monsters use magic. It's that simple." Irvine nodded in understanding, glad to have Quistis along now that he knew of the unusual power she had. He finally turned back to Rinoa, who had spoken little.

"And then there's Rinoa Heartilly, our civy charge from our previous mission and she is the only person in the entire group who still has the maturity of an 8 year old," here I cleanly dodged a very predicable strike from her fist, followed by a few more before she gave up.

"You're a civilian?" he asked her, catching her attention, Rinoa quickly nodded after she registered his question.

"My group hired SeeD," she explained. "To support us in Timber."

"Timber resistance?" Irvine asked, then nodded in answer to his own question. "Ah, don't worry. I may be from Galbadia, but I'm with those that don't like the fact that we're occupying Timber. You're secret's safe with me." Rinoa nodded, reassured by the sharpshooter's words. Despite his somewhat obnoxious nature, Irvine was undoubtedly honourable.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, we had arrived at the train station at the southwest end of the complex. I received the ticket, billing the charge to Garden's expense account, and led my group onto the train. Not waiting around, I immediately used my ticket in the reader beside the security door, which beeped and slid open. Beside me, Selphie giggled, understanding why I had made sure to do that first.

"You've caught on!" she exclaimed, and then burst through the door. "Thanks!" she called over her shoulder as the door closed behind her.

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered as I didn't feel like putting up with her whining. The rest of us followed her, though none of us stayed in the outside hallway, instead crowding into the private SeeD room. Irvine detached from the group and hovered near the door, a thoughtful look on his face, while Zell, myself and Rinoa immediately lounged on the couches. Quistis and Squall remained standing for a moment.

The train suddenly lurched, and was accompanied by an announcement over the intercom about the train's departure for Deling City, capital of Galbadia.

"This is the only train headed for Deling anyway," Rinoa commented, getting a giggle out of Quistis and Zell.

Squall didn't respond, and Irvine seemed too caught up in thought to notice. I glanced at him as the sharpshooter let out a thoughtful "hm."

"I wonder if it's fate?" he asked himself quietly, and stepped out of the cabin and into the hallway with Selphie. I watched him leave, along with the others, whose expressions ranged from curious to slightly concerned.

"He kind of just . . . walked off," Quistis commented after several moments.

"Here we go…" I sighed before I got u and walked after him. I got outside and predictably, Irvine was standing beside Selphie at the windows lining the hallway, watching the brown landscape flit past. Immediately, from their body language, I could tell that Irvine had made Selphie uncomfortable.

"Selphie, come on," he said quietly to her, leaning over the much smaller SeeD. "We're destined to be together!" He spoke the words dramatically, almost like a parody of an epic romance and cheesy movie. Selphie stuttered for a second before replying.

"Yeah, right," Selphie responded quietly, her words carrying a slightly sarcastic tone.

"Words of love?" he asked playfully, to which Selphie quickly shook her head.

"N-No," she replied firmly. Irvine then shrugged, and then glanced at me, as if sensing my presence. The sharpshooter turned to the small woman again, smiled and tipped his hat, and then turned back.

"Pardon me," he said quietly but politely as he stepped back into the guest room. I watched him leave, and then shook my head. From my past memories of him, I knew what to expect. In fact, he had taken longer to try his luck then in the past. I guess it was because Selphie was a childhood friend and not just a casual friend.

"Hey Selphie, you ok?" I asked her, to which she nodded. The small SeeD put a hand to her chest, and looked a bit flushed from her encounter.

"My heart's pounding," she said.

"Understandable. Irvine's like that. Just stay on your guard, kay? He's not one to give up just because a little outside influence came along," I said, getting a nod from her.

I decided to stay outside with her, providing silent support for her. When I was sure she was feeling better, if only a little bit, I turned back to the cabin. I opened the door to see Irvine standing beside a flushed Rinoa, who was glaring at him. Irvine had an apologetic look on his face, and I knew that Irvine had gone after Rinoa too. No surprise there. But if Selphie had rejected his approach, then it seemed that Rinoa had practically shot Irvine out of the sky. I glanced at Squall, wondering if he was feeling a little jealous, but to my surprise he held a small amused smile.

'I guess I missed one hell of a shoot down,' I sighed in regret for not walking in sooner.

"Irvine Kinneas!" Quistis scolded the sharpshooter in her "instructor" tone, before Zell could hop in with something louder and likely more violent. Irvine turned to face her, and then looked down at the floor, away from the rest of the group. "No one understands me," Irvine muttered.

'Classic deflection there,' I grinned to myself.

"Sharpshooters," he whispered. "We're loners by nature. We hone our instincts and bodies, pouring our entire essence into a single bullet. Waiting for that one moment, that final second, before we take the shot. We put everything into that one bullet…" Irvine trailed off, and moved out of the way.

"The pressure of that instant, that one moment," he said. "I have to face that alone. It's not easy…" Irvine said no more, instead walking toward the door.

"Tell that to the three girlfriends you have at any given time in Galbadia Garden," I grinned.

He spun around and hissed at me, "Stupid! They're not supposed to know about that!" He then froze as he realised that he had just said that out loud.

"Busted!" I grinned evilly.

He gritted his teeth before smiling. "Well, whatever," he said before walking out of the room and, as I poked my head out myself, saw him walk past Selphie and toward the front.

"Man am I glad I popped that balloon before he got too inflated with his woe is me speech," I smiled.

"So… does he really have three girlfriends?" Rinoa asked.

"Three new ones every fortnight. He's a player. Don't get me wrong, he's a great guy and he never treats a girl wrong. He's just got a little problem with the word 'commitment', is all," I said.

"Ahh," she replied, understanding.

"Though it doesn't help that he thinks he's Hyne's gift to women," I continued before pulling on a cheezy grin, "Which is impossible cause we all know that I'm the epitome of manliness!"

There was a moment of silence before we all began to laugh in varying levels. When we all settled down I added, "Don't worry bout him, when it comes down to the crunch, he's a solid defender of his friends and comrades." This seemed to make everyone feel better about the situation.


	24. Chapter 24: Centre of the Western World

**Chapter 24: Centre of the Western World**

"Focus," Squall calmly explained to Rinoa. "The magical energy you'd normally cast while focusing on it has to be concentrated on a particular part of your body. The Guardian Force you junctioned should understand what it is that you want."

"Give Sukuna a little more credit than that," I said to Squall before turning to Rinoa. "She'll understand. As long as you think clearly, but not hard. That tends to be like shouting for the GFs inside one's summoner's head."

Rinoa nodded, sitting on the couch in the private SeeD cabin. She quietly did as Squall and I instructed, focusing her magic. Beside her, Angelo watched quietly, the dog observing the exchange between her master, her bodyguard and the team leader.

"Your magic can be focused on particular aspects of your physical body," Squall explained. "Strength, reflexes, durability, even your ability to focus magical energy. You need to will the energy to enhance that part of your body."

Squall then took an apple from the bowl of fruit that had been in the cabin's refrigerator, and handed it to Rinoa. I was busy snacking on the chocolate that was found in there.

"Focus on your physical power, and your ability to manipulate your surroundings with pure strength," he told her. "Can you feel the magic?" Rinoa furrowed her brow in concentration, then suddenly relaxed and nodded quickly.

"Now, centre it on your physical power," Squall told her. Rinoa concentrated once more.

"I can feel it," she whispered. "I can feel it in my legs and arms, all over."

"Good," he told her. "Now squeeze the apple gently." Squall looked down at the apple, watching intently. Rinoa's muscles flexed in her fingers-

-and the apple was crushed inward, almost effortlessly.

Zell, sitting nearby, was unable to suppress a whistle. Angelo, who had been watching her mistress intently, jerked back at the display.

"You're one quick learner, Rinoa!" Zell commented as Rinoa opened her eyes, surprised at her strength.

"I… I guess so," Rinoa replied quietly, surprised at how easily she'd crushed the apple.

"Those are the fundamentals of junctioning," Squall explained to Rinoa, looking impressed with her performance with the fruit. "By focusing your magic and centring it on any other attribute, you should be able to enhance yourself. But, you have to remember that particular types of magic have different effects. Healing and protection magic are better for defence, and offensive magic is better for enhancing your strength or reflexes."

"Also remember that Sukuna is a healer. She can help you raise strength, but the limit is a lot lower than what you could accomplish with, say, Ifrit. But with stats like Vitality and Spirit, which enhances magical strength, you'll be able to multiply the stat over and over, depending on the strength of the magic you're junctioning. Since Sukuna is a healer, your magical strength will be with curative spells and defence buffing. Support spells will also be easier to handle and stronger themselves," I added.

Rinoa nodded in understanding, but then paused as an announcement came in over the intercom, informing the passengers that the train was getting close to Deling City.

"We can save the other lessons for later," Squall told her, reaching for his gunblade and pack.

A few minutes later, the train passed into a tunnel, where it rapidly began decelerating, until it came to a complete stop. We were already moving when the predictable announcement asking us to leave sounded.

I hopped off the train into a large, loud and noisy hub, Deling City's train station. Passengers, conductors, and station personnel were moving around the area, lit by muted yellow lamps and neon signs. I checked to see that the rest of my team was following, and led us off our platform and towards the main door.

Deling's train network and station were underground, the rail lines running into the base of the hill the city sat upon. We approached a huge, wide, and long escalator, the automated staircase running up to the surface, and stepped on.

After a couple of minutes riding the device up to the top, we saw Deling City unfold before us, beyond the huge archway of the station's main entrance.

The night sky of Deling City shimmered with the illumination of dozens of spotlights reflecting off the clouds. Directly ahead, down a wide avenue, there was Deling City's central landmark, a massive archway, covering in statues of heroes and monsters, and brass statues of ancient Galbadian soldiers, surrounding a huge clock set above the arch. The city streets bustled with activity, as cars, trucks, and huge red double-decker busses blazed past. Citizens and the occasional military police officer moved about purposefully along the sidewalks, congregating at bus stops.

Deling City, the city known as the Shining Night, was as alive at night, or even more so, than it was in the daytime.

Zell and Selphie seemed slightly bewildered at the bustle of the city, which was no surprise, considering they came from relatively quiet communities. Irvine, Quistis, and Rinoa seemed much more at ease, Irvine in particular. However, while Rinoa seemed familiar with her surroundings, she still seemed anxious. Squall, predictably, didn't seem very bothered by it all, but I could see his eyes taking in the sights with mild interest.

I smiled and stretched. "Ahh, the city. Maybe I should book myself into the Galbadia Hotel and play a few jazz songs," I said, the song Take Five by Dave Brubeck already bouncing around in my head.

"Irvine, do you know where Caraway's home is?" Squall asked, to which he shrugged.

"It's not too far," Rinoa piped in, a bit hesitantly. "We just need to take the 08 bus. The nearest stop is right outside the station."

"You know a lot about Deling?" Quistis asked, to which Rinoa nodded.

"I've been with the Forest Owls for years," she explained quietly, "but I was born and raised here in Galbadia. In this city, actually."

'Yeah, and that's not suspicious at all,' I thought sarcastically, gaining a few laughs from my GF friends.

"Well, I know where to go, but how bout you lead the way for us Rinoa," I said. She made no reaction to my words, but did beckon for us to follow her.

I turned to Squall and saw him look thoughtful. "Thinking bout Laguna?" I asked.

He looked over. "Yeah. Do you think it's possible we'll run into him here?"

"Anything is possible, I suppose," I replied, making sure to look as neutral as possible. "They seem to be semi aware of us when it happens, so maybe we can talk it out with them if we happen to bump into each other. But stay focused on the upcoming mission for now, ok?" Squall nodded at this before we jogged over to the others.

The bus ride over there was quiet and uneventful. After a few minutes the bus came to a stop, the driver announcing our arrival in Deling City's upper-class district. Rinoa quickly rose and led us off. It was only a few minutes until we approached one of the mansions, an average sized-one, if the huge homes could be considered average-sized at all.

"This is it," Rinoa said quietly, gesturing to the home of General Fury Caraway.

"Swell. Let's go introduce ourselves then," I said as I took the lead and walked towards the gate. We didn't get very far before we were stopped by a large patrol of very heavily armed Galbadians. The leader of the group, wearing the insignia of a lieutenant, held up a hand as we approached the gate.

"Excuse me," he asked. "Do you have some business with the general? He is a busy man."

"We're the SeeD party that came from Galbadia Garden, Lieutenant," I said truthfully, "We're here to meet the general. I believe he's been informed of our arrival."

"Garden?" the lieutenant asked, almost to himself, but then nodded. "Yes, indeed. Caraway's mansion is through this gate, but… I can't let you pass. Yet."

"Do tell the reason our way is barred," I replied, my tone neutral.

"I was ordered not to let you through until your skills have been tested," the soldier explained.

"Excuse me?" I replied, making sure to let some of what I was feeling slip through, to let him know just how meaningless and timewasting this test was going to be.

"The Tomb of the Unknown King is to the northeast of the city, on the Gotland Peninsula, near the coast," the soldier explained, unruffled. "A rather boastful Galbadia Garden student went there some time ago, investigating the rumours of monsters. He has never been seen again, but he did leave his identification number behind along with his weapon. Find them and return."

The soldier reached into a pocket in his uniform and pulled out a rolled parchment.

"This is a map of the tomb," he explained. "Once you find the weapon and his identification number, return. Simple."

I glared at him for a moment before tugging the map out of his hands with a huff. "Good luck," the soldier bid, and then turned around and led his patrol away.

"Jackasses, the both of them," I growled as I handed the map to Squall. "I know Caraway is right to be careful on who he sends into battle for this, but our resumes should speak for themselves."

"The Tomb of the Unknown King?" Irvine commented as Squall scanned the map. "That old place? It's about sixty to seventy miles away. Too far to walk."

"My wings can ensure that I can be there and back in under an hour," I replied.

"You know anything about it?" Squall asked, to which Irvine scratched his chin.

"Monsters, treasure, and I even heard there's an earth spirit there," Irvine said after a few moments. "Mostly made-up stuff, but one legend says that a pair of cow-men lives there." Irvine chuckled at the notion.

"Well a couple of GFs live there. Called the Brothers. And 'cowmen' is pretty accurate for them," I replied.

"**Josh, why don't you let us take care of the ID and recruiting the Brothers,"** Shiva spoke up.

"Hang on a sec guys. Shiv's talking to me," I said out loud before focusing completely on the female ice GF. 'You sure?'

"**Yeah. We haven't had much to do to help you out yet,"** she said.

'Yes you have. You guys have done heaps,' I replied.

"**Perhaps, but we want to take a more active role in helping you,"** Bahamut said.

"**So let us go to the tomb, get the ID and the Brothers, kay?"** Shiva finished up.

'Well… if you're sure,' I replied before smiling. 'I won't turn down help. Especially since we can get some R&R before the mission. It's going to be tough and we need to be in our best condition possible.'

"**Exactly. We are capable of handling this,"** Diablos assured me.

'Very well,' I agreed before relaying what had just been said to my team.

"Really?" Zell asked. "They can do that?"

"Yeah. And it'll be good for us. We need some downtime to get ourselves rested for the mission anyways. This gives us the perfect opportunity," I explained. I then focused on my mind again. 'So I know Shiva, Bahamut and Diablos want to do this. Anyone else?'

"**I'll help out, so I'll give you access to my true form,"** Siren said.

"**I'm going too!"** Dante spoke up.

"**Just because Siren said she'd go?"** Ifrit chuckled.

"**No… of course it isn't… not the main reason anyway,"** Dante deflected.

'Sounds like a plan. Siren, try not to kill him while doing this, ok?'

"**I'll do my best, but he'd better behave,"** Siren warned.

"**I shall give you access to my true form as well,"** Bahamut added.

'You sure?' I asked.

"**Positive. I trust you, Josh,"** she said and I got the distinct feeling Bahamut was smiling.

'I'm honoured,' I replied, sending the mental image of me bowing respectfully at her.

"Right," I said out loud. "I'm gonna fly outside and do a few things before flying back. Don't go anywhere." I then released my winds and took off, quickly blending into the night sky.

Two minutes later I was outside, about 10 kilometres away from Deling City. I first summoned Shiva and Diablos out in their human form. Then I summoned Dante for the first time since introducing the new GFs to my teammates.

His entrance was a surprising one. I didn't pay attention to it before but this time I had a good look. After summoning him a sexy red 1968 Pontiac Firebird Convertible appeared suddenly a few hundred meters away from us and moving toward us as well. The car then swerved to the side in a proper handbrake turn and Dante jumped out toward us. He flipped twice before landing, brandishing Ebony and Ivory, as the Firebird disappeared behind him. He looked like his DMC Anime series version. Strangely he wasn't wielding Rebellion. Perhaps he was the GF of guns. 'Perfect for Irvine,' I thought to myself.

"**Showoff,"** Siren scorned.

"Here," Dante said as he holstered his guns and produced a large silver coloured sphere crystal. I took it with a nod before absorbing the gem. The strength of the link increased, just like the others, but again, wasn't as big a leap as the one with Shiva. _'I wonder why that is?'_ I thought privately.

I then waited for Dante to turn into his human form, but nothing happened. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Well… I'm one of the very few GFs whose form doesn't change between either of the three stages. The only thing that changes is my strength and abilities," he replied.

"Oh…, I see," I replied.

"**My turn now,"** Siren said.

I nodded and summoned her. Her sequence was much the same as what it was in the game, except that her features were even more heart tugging now that they were real. She then dismissed her harp, and I saw just how little her… attributes were covered. While the perverted side of me wanted to run wild, I remained a gentleman and focused on her eyes, which were a neon green.

She then hopped off her rock, which melted away, and handed me her gemstone, which looked like a softball sized sphere of yellow diamond. I took it and absorbed it, with the same effects as before with her link. She then transformed into her human form, and my eyes widened. She had turned into a green eyed, blonde haired version of Yoko Littner from Gurren Lagann. The colour theme for her bikini top was bright gold with green flames, as was her boots. The thigh high stockings were light yellow and the tight short shorts were white.

I looked away as I didn't want to be caught staring at her impressive breasts. "So… that's your human form, huh?"

"She's got one hell of a rack, don't she?" Dante asked with a wide grin.

"Keep taking and you will be limping the way to the tomb," she growled. His grin turned nervous and he slowly began to back away, as if afraid any sudden movements would set her off.

"By the way, I notice you didn't show your true form," I asked. "Why is that? I was kinda curious."

"Well… I don't wanna," she replied as she clasped her hands behind her back and looked down and away.

"Huh?" was my intelligent response.

"It means she's shy about her true form," Shiva replied.

"Shy?" I asked before eyeing her clothes quickly. 'If she isn't shy about that outfit, then what the hell would she look like in her true form?' I thought.

"**My turn now,"** Bahamut said and I nodded. Her entrance was the same as in game. The sky overhead darkened with clouds. Then lightning began to discharge and a bulge appeared in the clouds. But then a bright light shot through the clouds and expanded as it reached the ground. However the light wasn't blinding. And from out of the light was a sight I wasn't expecting. I thought her true form was going to be something akin to Bahamut-ZERO from FFVII, but not this as my eyes widened in awe.

Her form was humanoid to start off with, but she looked to be 15 feet tall. She had the face of a beautiful woman with magenta eyes and purple hair. However on her head was a crest of blue and purple scales with five golden horns adorned like a giant crown. The main ones were on either side of her head and they curved back a bit over her head and pointed upwards. The next pair were smaller horns that jutted out underneath the two long ones. These were about half the size of the first two. And the fifth horn, longer than the two smaller ones but shorter than the long ones, sat right in the middle and curved slightly back over her head. The three horns at the top joined over the forehead in a small cluster of purple scales. Her eyes had dark eyeliner around them and her lips had a glossy pink look to them.

Her shoulders were bare of any scales and looked smooth and feminine. Almost delicate. But from her elbows onwards her arms were encased in a thick and bulky layer of indigo scales where blue light seemed to flow like veins around the scales. Attached to the end weren't the fingers of a woman. Instead there were five thick, long and sharp golden claws that extended out for two feet, except for the claws where the thumbs were, which were a foot long each. Golden fin like protrusions stuck out the back of the indigo scale plating on her arms.

Her body had generous curves with large breasts, narrow waist, wide hips and thick thighs. However most of her front was covered in indigo and blue draconic scales arranged in a V shape from just under her throat, over her bust and stomach and covered her crotch. A triangle cluster of golden scales pointing down nestled between her breasts. On the top of her hips were a set of golden scales sticking out.

The tops of her legs were a mix of blue scale streaks and bare light pink skin. Her inner thighs were uncovered but on the outside blue scale streaks wrapped themselves around her legs, leaving the tops of her thighs and inner thighs uncovered. But then the same cluster of indigo and blue scales seen on her arms was present on her legs from the knees down. And just like her hands, her feet looked like dragon feet with three large golden claws at the front and one smaller and hook like at the heel.

Growing out from just above her butt was a long and thin indigo dragon tail with the same blue liquid like light flowing around the scales. And finally, a set of four dragon wings were present coming out of her back. The bottom two were indigo with a sky blue membrane. The top set were also indigo, but the membrane was yellow at the top and sky blue at the bottom with a gradient colour change between them.

All in all, she was magnificent. Well deserving the title King… or in this case Queen of Dragons.

"Wow…." I whispered as she slowly beat all four of her wings, slowly gliding down and handing me a deep amethyst gem the same size as the others. I took the gem, careful not to cut myself from her long claws and absorbed the gem. However her link was strengthened even more than the others, comparable with the jump Shiva's had made after she had allowed me to summon her in her true form. 'That's interesting,' I thought before I was pulled out of my musings as Bahamut shape shifted into her human form.

Her form was that of a beautiful woman with waist length indigo hair, magenta eyes and pale skin. She was about the same height as Shiva was in her human form. She wore modest clothing of a white halter neck with a small pink ribbon bow at the front, a beige ¾ length sleeved light jacket, a red pleated skirt that reached around mid-thigh and purple taupe glossy stockings of some sort. Her feet were clad in black leather ankle boots.

"Wow again. You ladies look gorgeous," I praised. I wasn't flirting, just stating the fact. They both smiled pleasantly, but I noted that Bahamut's smile was wider than Siren's.

"Ok, so how are you guys going to get there?" I asked.

"Don't worry about that. Even though we're in our human forms, we can still move quite fast. Give us a few hours to get there and back," Shiva said.

"And what about getting back inside the city? Do you want me to come pick you up?"

"We can get back into the city and find you, no problems. Trust us, Josh," Bahamut said.

"I do trust you. But that won't stop me from worrying about you," I replied with a small smile.

"He's such a nice boy," Bahamut said to Shiva.

"Uhh… I don't know whether I should be happy or slightly annoyed at that comment," I replied, to which Bahamut giggled.

"Well, good luck. Not that you'll need it. The Brothers are not that hard to win over," I said.

"Don't worry. We know what buttons to press," Siren assured.

"So you just relax and get some rest for the mission ahead," Shiva said.

"Yes ma'am," I replied with a cheeky smile before releasing my wings and flying back to Deling City. In mid-flight I turned and looked back to see the five GFs speeding over the ground at 40 plus kilometres per hour, heading towards the Tomb.

"I really hope everything goes well," I muttered to myself before I dived towards the city.

* * *

I dismissed my wings in the last 20 meters of my dive and landed nimbly in front of my friends. "Yo! You miss me?" I asked.

"So I'm guessing that the GFs are on their way to the Tomb now?" Squall asked.

"Yep. Should be done in 4 to 5 hours. So we should use that time to relax, make any preparations like item stocking or weapon upgrades like I'm gonna get or whatever. Just no drinking alcohol. Don't want to be drunk on this particular mission," I replied.

Everyone nodded at this.

"Ok. Meet back here in 5 hours. So that's…" I trailed off to look at one of the many street clocks scattered around Deling City. It was currently 7:23PM.

"Let's say back here at midnight. If my friends aren't back at that time then we'll book a hotel and get some sleep. If they are, then we'll go straight ahead and meet with the General," I finished.

"An all-nighter. Horary," Zell sighed in despair.

"I'm sure we'll get some sleep before the mission. If you prefer you can get some before the meet up time," I replied.

"No no, I'm good," he said.

"Ok, well I'm gonna get my guns remodelled. Free time until 12AM," I said before I began to walk in the direction of the shopping district.

About 5 minutes of doing this I took out my earphones and jacked them into my iPhone, turning on some Miles Davis. I nodded my head to the jazz music as I observed the world around me.

'Now where is that shop?' I wondered to myself before I spotted the weapons store in question. I walked through the door and got a shock.

"Hey," Sora greeted from behind the counter.

"Sora? What are you doing here?" I asked in confusion.

"I'm here to remodel your guns, and to explain a few points to you," he replied. "I've set the remodelling process to last for about an hour. While that happens, we'll go get a drink at the Galbadia Hotel and I'll let you in on a few things."

"Ok. Sounds good to me," I replied before drawing my guns and laying them on the counter. In turn he took them to the back of the shop and disappeared through a doorway. Not 5 seconds he was back. "Well? Shall we go?"

We stayed silent until we got to the hotel. We walked in and in spite of myself I looked around as if I expected to catch a glimpse of Jack and the crew. Of course I knew that they weren't here. Or at least, Laguna, Kiros and Ward weren't. I had no idea on where Jack would be.

We were shown to a table, the very same one that Laguna and his friends sat at. "I'll grab a Southern Comfort and lemonade mix please," Sora ordered and I blinked in surprise. Southern Comfort was a famous American liqueur in my world and naturally I was curious as to why it was here in Galbadia. Sure Galbadia could be seen as the FFVIII equivalent to America but still.

"You getting anything?" Sora asked.

"Just a bottle of water for me," I replied. The waitress nodded with a smile and walked off to prepare the orders.

"Ok, so what's the deal with alcohol from my world in this one?" I asked.

"That's part of what I'm going to tell you tonight. But first, I'll explain who I really am," he replied.

"You're not my PS2?" I asked.

"Well… yes and no. In a past life, I was a Sorcerer. A special kind of sorcerer. Another name for them is Authors but not in an author of a book kind of way. More on that later. Eventually I died and became what is known as a Constructor. From there we have two choices; roam the multiverse as an unseen observer until we fade from existence, or help other people come into their Sorcerer powers themselves. That's what I've chosen to do with you," he explained.

"So, I'm not just a sorcerer in this world?" I asked.

"That's right. Everyone has the potential to become a Sorcerer. Most never discover this power within themselves, or use this power unconsciously when they use their imagination. That's basically what it is, the power of your imagination given form. But a very small amount of people discover this power and they often become the deities of their created worlds. Worlds that are real, with real living people in them. And even then, most of these worlds are chaotic and quite raw and unrefined. They usually don't last very long unless the Sorcerer is very good and detail oriented with his imagination.

"But then there are people who, after meeting a Constructor, use the raw power of their imagination to empower a Constructor, who builds the world for them. A Constructor uses his past experience as a Sorcerer to create the world in a correct and stable format and then puts the Sorcerer in that world so they can learn to harness their powers without blowing up the universe they're in. That's what I've done with you. This, in actuality, makes you Hyne, the creator of this world."

Here I blinked. "I'm… uhh… really?"

"**That's right,"** Ifrit said.

'You guys knew? You knew and didn't tell me?' I asked.

"**We didn't think you were ready to learn such a heavy topic as this. Learning that you're God isn't an everyday thing, you know,"** Sukuna said gently.

"**But it's a Constructor's duty to explain when the time is right. Shiva told me and the other new GFs that Sora came and explained it to them at one time when you were asleep, so we wouldn't spill the beans and risk the implosion of the world. He said that it's been known to happen when someone is told this kind of thing prematurely,"** Hyôrinmaru explained.

I was silent for a moment before I nodded. 'Fair enough. I understand.' I then spoke physically. "So you let the GFs know not to tell me the truth before you thought I was ready?"

"That's right. Nasty things can happen if you're too early on the explanations. Each GF wouldn't have known straight off, but they would eventually realise that your mind was not like other minds, even compared with sorceresses from this world," he said.

"Right… so, I'm Hyne. Got to focus on not getting a god complex now," I muttered.

"I know you'll be just fine. It's why I've chosen now to tell you. This also explains why there are Earth stuff here. It comes from your mind, the things you know."

"You mean I could've ordered a Triple Orgasm just now? Shit. But then again, no drinking before the mission," I smiled. "So… Constructors are…?"

"Basically we're like musical instruments. Extremely limited to what we can do on our own, but when coupled with a musician, we can create anything," he explained.

"Ahh, that's easy to understand," I nodded.

"Some Constructors create worlds that they themselves think up, while others use the sorcerer's views to create the world. I've chosen to do the later. So in actual fact, this world is your perception of FFVIII. I just organized it and filled in the blanks with stuff from your birth universe," Sora said.

"Right," I nodded. Here the drinks arrived and I downed a third of the bottle I was given, my mouth quite dry from the news. The cool liquid helped. "So… uhh… I've been having strange dreams and visions of myself being part of the orphanage gang. Even Irvine knew I was part of it when we met up. Why is that?"

"Well, that part is from my tweaking. I didn't want you to feel left out like Rinoa does. So I gave you a real background in this world. You grew up with all the kids at Edea's orphanage in Centra. Taking your personality into effect, you were always the understanding, kind, big brother who helped Ellone or Elli as you called her and Edea, since you didn't call her Matron, look after the kids." Here he broke off and looked to the side. "Sorry if that seemed pretentious of me. I should've cleared such a thing right at the beginning. After scanning your mind I deducted that if you had a choice, you would have chosen this. But I really should've said something before."

I smiled. "It's ok. You chose correctly. I had no siblings growing up so I guess a big part of me wanted something like this. And now I do. So don't worry. I'm quite ok with this." It was at this point that I decided that I was going to stay here after the business with Ultimecia was over with. Back home I had no one waiting for me anymore. Didn't have a lot of good friends. Here I felt like I had a purpose. People who cared for me. And then there was…

"Well, I'm glad you're not pissed at me for that," Sora smiled, breaking me out of my inner private thoughts.

"Yeah, definitely not that," I replied.

"Well, I think your guns are done now. Is there anything else you wanna know?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, where did you go between the start of all this and now?" I asked since I was kinda curious.

"You're not the only you I'm helping out, you know," Sora replied.

"What?" I asked intelligently.

"Well, you know the concept of the multiverse, right?"

"Yeah… so you're saying that you're looking after another me in a different universe?" I asked.

"Yep, and I gotta go give him a heads up with stuff. Give him the talk I just gave you," Sora explained.

"Wow… where is he?" I asked.

"He's on FFIX Gaia. Should be on his way to Lindblum on the cargo airship," Sora grinned.

I mirrored his grin. "Sweet. Well, you'll tell him I said hi?"

"Sure," Sora agreed.

* * *

"Woooww… These are sweet!" I breathed as I admired my new guns. They now looked like the huge revolvers Vash and Knives wielded in Trigun, except with the same colouring and inscriptions as the guns from before.

"If you look on the side, there's a new addition to the switches," Sora said. I tilted Oblivion to see that the switch had an extra slot on it with an R stamped next to it.

"That is a new mode for your guns. After flipping the switch to that setting, the first round you shoot acts as a homing beacon of sorts. Every other shot after the first will home in on the impact point of the first. I call it the Replay mode," Sora said proudly.

"Nice!" I grinned, eager to test out the new mode.

"Also, you want to change anything about yourself before I leave? New outfit perhaps?" Sora asked.

"Actually, yeah, a new outfit would be good. Ragna's threads are cool and flashy, but it's just not the style here," I replied before getting down to explaining what the new outfit entailed.


	25. Chapter 25: Fighting and Socialising

**Chapter 25: Fighting and Socialising**

"So… this is the place?" Shiva asked as she took in the heavily overgrown ruin, green grasses and bushes interspersed among grayish-blue stone paths and columns. About a hundred feet beyond the outer wall was a massive stone structure, as heavily overgrown as the outer grounds and covered with runes, images, and reliefs. A river cut between the stone structure and the outer section, with a stone bridge traversing the gap. Just beyond the bridge was the entrance into the tomb, a yawning black portal into the depths of the grave of the ancient, nameless king.

"There's a certain… peacefulness here, isn't there," Siren noted, also taking in the sight.

"And the scent is invigorating," Diablos added, taking a slow deep breath through his nose.

"Hmmm," Dante murmured, uninterested in the place.

"I sense two earth spirits within the tomb. Would that be them?" Bahamut asked.

"Yeah, that's them," Diablos nodded. "I've met them before so I recognise their elemental signature."

"Well then, let's go get them, shall we?" Shiva said before she led the group across the bridge toward the open hole. As they approached, she wondered if she should get Bahamut to light a makeshift torch, but just beyond the entrance, Shiva could see a faint glowing light.

As soon as they entered the chamber, they were struck by a faint odour. Not the musty smell one would expect from a forgotten tomb, but a scent of the earth, of life. Despite the fact that this place was one of death and eternal sleep, the Tomb of the Unknown King seemed to possess a sort of strange life. The walls were covered in more designs and embellishments, and a pair of trenches running between the walls and the floors, funnelled water throughout the tomb from an unknown location.

"The feeling of earthen life is stronger in here," Siren said softly.

As the group advanced, Shiva found the source of the illumination: shafts of light shot down from the ceiling, through holes in the roof cut by the builders. Where the light shone, small grasses grew out of the stone floor.

The group approached an intersection, and suddenly had to leap back as a pair of Galbadia Garden cadets, females, ran around the right corner and past them to the exit. They were scrambling as fast as they could, with expressions of sheer terror on their faces. The cadets were gone before anyone could even speak.

Diablos sighed. "Well, I'm not surprised. The Brothers always did have abysmal social skills. Well, the big one anyways. Probably said something wrong to them."

"I haven't met them before," Shiva said.

"Me neither," Siren added.

"Same," Dante said.

"I have," Bahamut said. "It was a long time ago and just the one time. I did notice that they were a little… odd."

"They're only bad when talking to women. With guys they have no problem," Diablos smiled to himself.

"So which way?" Dante asked.

"That way," Bahamut said, pointing to the right.

"Yeah, there's a large earth elemental signature in that direction. Got to be one of the Brothers," Diablos agreed.

"Shouldn't we leave a marker or something so we know which way to get out?" Siren asked.

"I've been here before. Every second left leads to a room if we start from the left. The rooms are set out like points on a compass. Imagine the entrance is on the south point. We're heading to the west point. Next is north, then east. Then instead of taking the second left to the exit, we turn right and straight up the middle to the main tomb room," Diablos explained.

"Huh?" Dante asked intelligently.

"I'll just tell you where to go, ok?" he replied with a small sigh while Siren rolled her eyes at Dante's apparent lack of IQ needed to understand. "However, we should go left instead. We could run into that Student ID and weapon on the way. That's the main reason we're here, right?"

Shiva nodded. "We also need to be careful. Since we're in our human forms, we're essentially weaker. If we're defeated, we'll be sent back to Josh and will have to start all over again, and Josh doesn't have that kind of time."

Unknown to her, most of the GFs in the group gave her a sidelong glance and a knowing smile.

They traced the outer perimeter of the tomb's tunnels, for the most part simply following the corridors that turned, until they found a side chamber. A quick check, however, showed that the side chamber was blocked by a large stone slab. Shiva frowned, but then Diablos led her team back. She doubted the Galbadia Garden cadet could have moved that slab there.

Diablos continued to lead the team around the outer tunnels, not wanting to go deeper in until they'd confirmed that the cadet's equipment hadn't been left out here where it was easier to navigate. They found another side chamber some time later, but this too was blocked by a slab. Undaunted, they continued on, though now by Shiva's reckoning, they would be headed into the region those Galbadia Garden cadets had been fleeing from. Now she moved more cautiously, and the rest of the team caught on to her movements, and moved slowly as well.

Nothing reared up to threaten them, however, as they skirted the outer tunnels in this region. Shiva found another side chamber in this region, and (to little surprise) this one wasn't blocked by a slab of stone. She took the lead and cautiously led them down the corridor, noting that the chamber beyond had no overhead lighting, just a faint bluish-white glow with no apparent source. When they entered the chamber, they saw what the glow was centred on, if not its source: a huge statue of a Minotaur, a great beast that looked like a cross between a man and a bull. This statue was set on a pedestal, and was remarkably life-like, its skin painted greyish-blue with red horns and shield, white tusks, a thick brown chest plate, black cloven feet, and a spiked iron mace in its hands. The statue's face seemed more like a vicious dog than a human, and it scowled at those who entered the chamber. Dante decided to take a closer look at the statue.

"Damn… sure is ugly," he commented. "Who would want to make a statue of something this stupid-looking?"

At that point an iron mace whistled through the air and smashed Dante in the chest, sending him flying comically through the air and into the wall.

"WHO'S STUPID LOOKING, YOU SILVER HAIRED BASTARD!" the Minotaur statue, which turned out to be one of the Brothers GFs, roared as Dante shook his head before whipping out his guns and firing at the GF's face.

It stepped back, almost off the pedestal, and then roared a thunderous reply. Dante saw the gaping wounds on the creature's face, which looked more like miniature craters in rock instead of real wounds. Even as Dante watched, the small craters reformed, regenerating the damage.

"Shit," he swore as he prepared to fire the next volley. However it ripped a large slab of rock from the wall in the blink of an eye and used it to shield himself from Dante's volley.

"How bout some help?" Dante asked the four behind him.

"You look like you've got it all under control," Siren smiled.

"Besides, you're the one who called him ugly. Why should we get involved?" Bahamut asked.

"You've got to be kidding!" Dante cried out before launching himself at the right wall, springboarding off it and over the top of the stone shield. The minotaur was not expecting this as Dante fired several more shots into him. The GF roared in pain before dropping the shield while simultaneously grabbing Dante's left arm. He then swung the gunman around and into the wall once more but didn't let go. Instead he picked up the stone slab again and slammed it into Dante, burying him in the wall. But half a second later the slab blew apart as Dante used his guns to blow the rock away, several pieces and guns slamming into the minotaur.

Dante ducked low, the GF's mace flying overhead, one of the spikes actually passing through his hair, the tip slicing a cut along the top of his head. The GF gunman countered, pressing both guns against the GF's armoured stomach and firing a dozen shots in rapid succession. The spirit shuddered and fell back. Fire and explosive ice erupted on the GF's back as Bahamut and Shiva entered the fray, their spells chased by a Demi spell courtesy of Diablos. Dante shot the Minotaur again as Shiva prepared to cast more ice spells.

The sudden onslaught of attacks from other participants made the Minotaur unsure of what to do against so many opponents, and simply opted to flee. It turned, leaped clear over Bahamut and Shiva's heads, and dashed out the chamber. Over its shoulder, it sent a roaring threat.

"BASTARDS!" it called. "THIS AIN'T OVER!"

There was silence other than the rapid thudding of the Minotaur's feet as it retreated deeper into the tomb. "Dante, how are you holding up?" Shiva asked.

Dante shook his head a few times to clear his mind of the dizziness that came from the stone slab. "I really don't like fighting in human form. Not only am I weaker, but my regeneration is slower."

"It can't be helped. Using this form helps us keep the structural integrity of the tomb stable. Not only would a collapse be disrespectful to whoever was buried here, but the collapse might bury the student ID and their weapon forever. And then what would Josh and his team do?" Shiva said, not liking the idea of failing the first mission Josh had given her, even if she had asked for it. "No, we stay in human form."

Dante sighed as he gingerly touched his face, relieved to be back in shape. "Fine, but next time help out a little sooner maybe?"

* * *

"Mr. President?" the aide said, jogging up to Vinzer Deling as he walked down a hallway, flanked by advisors. The President was speaking to one of them, but paused as the aide approached.

"Yes?" Deling asked, rubbing a hand across his neck, where that blonde kid's gunblade had been pressed.

"The Sorceress would like to speak with you, sir," the aide said quickly. Deling frowned, and then nodded.

"I'm sorry Draco," Deling said to the advisor he had been speaking to before. "We'll cover the economic problems in Solheim later." With that, he dismissed his advisors and headed for the fourth floor of the Presidential Palace.

The fourth level was actually the highest level in the Palace, with the vast majority of the structure underground. It was designed that way back in the Sorceress War with Esthar, as a defence against their powerful aircraft and advanced energy weaponry. The upper level was often a place where the important media and social functions were held. One of the chambers for this kind of activity was recently taken over by Deling's new… ally.

Deling stepped through the white, transparent curtains she had draped over the main entrance and entered the Sorceress' chamber. Before he'd even seen her, Deling sensed the Sorceress' power, radiating out from the diminutive woman. It was an incredible, alluring power, but one that frightened Deling as well. Vinzer Deling was a dangerous man, but even he had to tremble before the power of this weapon he had joined with, always watching him like a half-tamed animal.

Deling wondered, not for the first time, the wisdom of his decision to ally with the same kind of person that had started the Sorceress War all those years ago, ravaging both Galbadia and Esthar…

The woman was seated directly across from the entrance, facing away, out an open double door that lead onto a balcony overlooking the streets below. She still wore her black dress that gradually shifted to purple at her feet, with the beak-like mask resting upon her face like a shadow of doom. Cautiously, Deling approached.

"You requested my presence," he stated grudgingly, reminding himself that they were allies, and that he was not subservient to the Sorceress. Still, the events from back in Timber rang fresh in his mind, and weakened Deling's beliefs of his superiority.

"Indeed," the woman said quietly, not looking back at the dictator. "I have questions I must tell you personally."

"And that is?" Deling replied, although he suspected the nature of the question the Sorceress would ask.

"Have you found her yet?" the Sorceress asked.

"No," Deling replied. "My intelligence networks are working feverishly to locate her. You must understand, it takes time, especially to search for one woman."

"I know how challenging it is to find a particular person," the Sorceress replied, an edge to her voice. "Believe me, I do know."

"Then why do you keep asking me?" Deling replied, not allowing her to gain the upper hand. "What is so important about a single person?"

"In time, you will see," the Sorceress responded.

"That won't do," Deling responded, growling. "If we are allies, then I have to know. Why are we committing so many resources to one person? What could she matter to our war efforts? I need to have my men analysing information and projecting possible responses from Garden, Esthar, the Global Mineral Association, and any number of other groups that would respond to our plans. I can't have them wasting time with this unless I have a damned good reason to!"

The Sorceress looked up, and turned her head to face Deling. The dictator, who had been gaining confidence with his tirade, began to shrink back beneath her invisible glare.

"Faith," she said to Deling. "Hold faith. Tonight, at the commencement ceremony, all will be revealed."

"I have no time for dramatics!" Deling fumed through clenched teeth. "Tell me! How important is she?"

"More important than you can imagine," the Sorceress responded quietly, her voice like steel lined in velvet - soft yet powerful. "One woman could bring us to the height of imaginable power, my President. Would you revoke such an opportunity?"

"You speak in riddles," Deling growled again. "I know she is important, but why?"

The Sorceress was silent for a moment before she changed the subject. "What of Josh Kitsuné? Have you found any new information of that one yet?"

"He turned up in Galbadia Garden one day. The boy was 13 years old. He quickly mastered handgun and swordplay training and received adequate to high marks in all other subjects. He's the best SeeD to come out of Galbadia Garden since the mercenary group's creation. But before his entry into Garden, there are no records on him whatsoever," Deling said.

"I see," the Sorceress replied before falling silent.

"…And?" Deling asked, hoping she would elaborate but she stayed silent.

"I tire of this," he hissed. The President turned and began to leave the room. "You had best tell what you intend at the ceremony," he added. Deling paused as he reached the door, but did not look back at the Sorceress. "Or else."

The door slammed shut as Deling left. The Sorceress chuckled quietly to herself, at the amusement of such simple-minded men. Deling was so petty. World domination? Why aim for that low a mark, when vastly greater power was in one's grasp?

"Tonight, little man," the Sorceress whispered. "Tonight you will see…" Beneath her mask, she smiled. Nearby, in the curtains, invisible to the sight of Deling, another figure shifted. He, too, smiled.

Soon.

* * *

"So, I have a question. Can Edea sense me with her powers?" I asked as I twisted my form to the side to get a decent look at my new clothes. I was now dressed in a red v-neck t-shirt, charcoal grey bootleg jeans with a thick silver chain attached to a black leather belt on my right side and a mid-sleeved black trench coat that was made of thin but durable denim. The edges of the sleeves, upturned collar and bottom were tattered stylishly and on the left sleeve there was an odd circular metal plate. I kept the boots and gloves from my previous outfit, and I had changed the necklace to a winged fox seen from the side. I remembered a tattoo I saw on the net and I always wanted to turn that into my personal pendant. Now that wish was reality.

Sora told me that the new outfit was similar to Snow's outfit from FFXIII-2. I was quite surprised that Square decided to make a sequel to XIII, and was even more surprised when Sora told me they had turned it into a trilogy.

"As long as you don't use your raw Sorcerer magic, she can't. Neither can other sorceresses. Back at Timber you used raw magic to stop Edea's attack. So if you used it here and now, she would know you're in this city," Sora explained.

"I see," I replied as I belted on my guns and attached my sword to my back.

"Well, it's time I got back to work," Sora said as he stretched.

"Taking care of the other me in IX?" I asked.

"Yep. I should be back about… … … … probably around the time you get Garden on the way to FH, kay?" he said.

"Ok. I should be able to hang on until then," I replied.

"Nonsense. You're doing a fine job. You'll be fine, no sweat," Sora smiled.

"Well thanks for the confidence, and everything else," I returned the smile and stuck out my hand. He shook it.

"Seeya soon," he chirped before he disappeared.

I was silent for a moment before a male voice spoke up in my head.

"**Do you think you could take a trip outside? I want to give you access to my true form,"** Hyôrinmaru asked.

"**Me too!"** Kyuubi spoke up.

"**As do I,"** Sukuna finished up.

'Okie dokie, let's get on outside then,' I thought aloud before walking out of the store, not forgetting to close and lock the door behind me.

"So these are your true forms, huh?" I said as I gazed at the three forms in front of me.

Kyuubi, like her sister, was now an elephant sized nine tailed red fox with red eyes. While she didn't look as elegant as Amy, she was still feminine in her shape. Maybe more tomboyish in her posture though.

Hyôrinmaru was no longer a western styled dragon, like in his avatar form. Now he was a larger ice blue and teal Eastern styled dragon. He kinda looked like Haku's dragon form from Spirited Away, just bigger and looking more like ice given life.

And Sukuna looked the same, but with one addition. She now sported large white angel wings with green-yellow tips.

"You all look so cool," I grinned.

"**Yay! We're cool looking. Isn't that sweet, Hyon?"** Kyuubi squealed cutely, despite her size.

"**Damnit Kyuubi, stop calling me Hyon!"** Hyôrinmaru replied in a loud whine.

"**Now now, children,"** Sukuna chided gently.

"**Right, right. Human form time!"** the fox cheered before she glowed and shrank, while changing form. When she stopped glowing, she now stood as a red haired, red eyed, 16 year old girl. She had red fox ears attached to the top of her head with white tips and strong whisker marks on her cheeks, similar to Naruto's. She was clothed in an apricot t-shirt and amber skirt that went past her knees. She was quite cute. I said it too, and was rewarded with a glomp that almost sent me sprawling on the grass.

Next was Hyôrinmaru. He turned into looking like Tóshiró Hitsugaya, post timeskip, but with turquoise coloured hair, cerulean eyes and also taller, about 5'4". He was dressed in black pants, a teal shirt and a black leather jacket. I commented that he looked quite smart and that he must be a hit with all the girls, causing him to blush and turn away, showing that his personality was nothing like Tóshiró's.

Then Sukuna changed into her human form. She looked largely the same, but ditched the wings. She also sported a new outfit, a long royal blue summer dress.

"You three look great. What say we all go out for drinks?" I asked.

"**Sounds like a good time, count us in too!"** Ifrit said while the three outside nodded.

* * *

Thus far, their search had turned up fruitless. The human form GFs found no trace of the missing cadet's gear, even after they began searching the tomb's maze-like inner corridors. An hour of prowling the tomb later, the five came to the conclusion that the cadet's gear was not in the tunnels. Furthermore, they'd had run-ins with other unpleasantness, a type of gel-like monster that had repeatedly popped up along the way. Killing the things had gotten tiresome. Shiva was almost considering searching the blocked side chambers by getting Diablos to crush the stone slabs with gravity magic when she realised that there was a section that they had not searched: the very centre of the tomb, a singular stone structure that, according to the map, was surrounded by water. The chamber itself was supposed to be the actual tomb of the ancient king, but that was not the only reason Shiva was apprehensive towards that part of the complex. In the hour they had been searching, the larger half of the Brothers GF had not resurfaced. For the most part, Guardian Forces remained in their lairs, which meant that the GF was still around. If it wasn't in the tunnels, then the larger Brother was most likely in the tomb itself.

Still, they had no choice but to continue their search of the tomb. Shiva led the group around, to a spot where the map indicated a bridge that led across the water. They found the bridge easily enough, spanning a wide, flowing lake and leading to a huge and tall stone structure in the middle of the body of water. The overgrown structure did not seem particularly ominous, but the GFs were at the ready despite the peaceful surroundings.

They entered the open chamber of the king's tomb. The room was bright and filled with plants lining the walls and floors, with a huge metal coffin in the centre of the chamber. A shaft of light shot down on the tomb of the king. Near the king's coffin lay a sword, beside the tatters of a Galbadia Garden cadet's uniform, doubtless that of the one they had been seeking the whole time.

However, all the details of the room were of little concern to the figure standing atop the tomb itself. The Minotaur glowered at its pursuers, clutching its mace tightly. It looked back and forth at the GFs before settling on Dante.

"YOU, YOU'RE BACK AGAIN?" the Minotaur thundered, its eyes going wide.

"That's right, rocks-for-brains. We're back," Dante replied cockily, again forgetting to keep his mouth shut.

"I TOOK IT EASY ON YOU LAST TIME, BUT NOT NOW!" The spirit jabbed a finger at the GFs, in a vain and boisterous attempt to make its words threatening. The group remained undeterred however, in light of the battle they had just fought an hour ago. Apparently the bigger Brother had forgotten how easily the five had won that confrontation. Shiva had never believed a Guardian Force could get this stupid, but apparently they could. The GF reminded Shiva of Raijin from what she had observed through Josh's eyes.

"T-THIS TIME, M-MY BIG BRO IS WITH ME!" the spirit shouted at its enemies. "N-NOW'S YOU'RE CHANCE TO RUN AWAY, MAN!"

Dante, in response, openly laughed at the Minotaur. The Guardian Force roared in anger, and then looked up.

"BRO!" it blasted, its voice reverberating off the walls. A flash of light filled the room, momentarily blinding the SeeDs, until the glow shrank. From the light there emerged an almost perfect replica of the Minotaur, except that it had yellow horns and shield.

That, and it was barely four feet tall.

"Yeah, bro?" the Guardian Force asked in a very quiet, calm tone, appraising the intruders.

"Y-YO, BRO, SACRED, THESE GUYS CRASHED THE TOMB!" the Minotaur whined to his "older" brother. "P-PLUS, THEY ATTACKED ME!" The tiny Guardian Force chuckled to himself, but looked on the SeeDs with new respect.

"Oh, really?" Sacred said, almost casually. "They defeated you? Not bad." Here he peered at Diablos and blinked. "D? That you?"

"Hey Sacred. It's been awhile," Diablos replied with a smile.

"Indeed it has," the small one replied.

"BRO? YOU KNOW THESE GUYS?" Minatour asked.

"Yeah. That's Diablos over there. You remember him, right?" He then turned to the others. "And unless I'm mistaken, that's Shiva, Bahamut, Dante and Siren. What are you doing out of your respective homes, and in your human forms no less?"

"We were looking for that sword just next to you," Shiva replied, pointing at the object in question.

"And we also wanted to ask you if you would join our current summoner. You've at least guessed that he's no ordinary summoner since we're here in our human forms," Diablos added.

"Indeed. They must have access to your true forms. And to even get the Empress of Dragons to submit, truly this person must be a rare one," Sacred nodded.

"I wouldn't have put it like that," Bahamut murmured.

"Then how would you have put it? If they didn't bend you to their will, then how else did this nigh impossibility happen?"

"He is not even remotely like any other summoner we've ever hand. He cares for his GFs as if they were companions, and friends. Each of us chose to aid him of our own free will, even before we realised his true identity," Bahamut said clearly, without hesitation.

Sacred blinked in surprise. "Who… who is this man you speak of, to command such respect from you, of all GFs?"

"His name is Josh Kitsuné," Shiva replied. "A Sorcerer. A _male_ sorcerer."

"_Male?_" Sacred's eyes widened in shock. "T-then he must be…"

"That's right… he's Hyne, our creator, though I don't think this has truly sunk in to him yet," Shiva said.

"Hyne…"

"B-BIG BRO?" Minotaur asked.

"I never thought this day would come. When Hyne would walk amongst us once again," Sacred whispered. He then looked up at Shiva. "We shall join Hyne and help him however we can!"

Bahamut bowed. "Thank you."

"Also, don't treat him like a god, even though he is. He doesn't like that. He just wants to be treated like a normal person," Shiva added.

"Curious…" Sacred muttered. He then turned to Minotaur and nodded. He nodded back before the two glowed brightly and fused together before shrinking to the size of a large stone. The glow subsided, leaving an earthy brown gem.

"Man! I was ready to kick some ass again!" Dante whined.

"It's better this way," Diablos replied as he walked over and picked up the gem. At the same time, Shiva walked over and picked up the cadet's sword.

"Well, we got what we came here for," she said, smiling. "Let's get back to Josh and the others!"

* * *

I led my group into the Galbadian Hotel bar and we found ourselves a large table to sit at. I was about to order some drinks before I spotted a familiar face at the bar. Quistis was sitting on a chair, her fingers lightly gripping an old fashioned glass with a small amount of liquid at the bottom. I turned to Ifrit. "Get some drinks going. I'm gonna see if Quistis wants to join us." I then got up and sidled over to the bar.

"Hey there," I said. The strawberry blonde haired woman turned to me and smiled.

"Oh, Josh. Any word from the GFs you put in charge of getting the student ID from the tomb?" she asked.

"Not yet, but I reckon they'll almost be done. Perhaps they're on their way back as I speak," I replied.

"That's good. I've been hearing the talk around town. The sorceress has an announcement she's making tomorrow night. We can't afford to waste much time relaxing," she said seriously.

I sighed. "You need to learn when to enjoy your R&R."

She blinked before gazing back at her glass. "I suppose you're right."

"How bout you come and talk with me and the guys. Meet your newest GF in his human form?" I asked. She turned around and her eyes widened at the sight of all the GFs in their human forms. "I… I don't know…" she began but I wouldn't have it. I gripped her arm and gently but firmly hoisted her up onto her feet. I then placed my hand on her back and guided her to our table. She was reluctant, but didn't put up any resistance.

"Hey guys! Guess who I found alone in the corner?" I said loudly.

"Hello Quistis!" Ifrit greeted with a wave before taking a sip of his order.

"Make some room for the lady," I ordered. Hyôrinmaru and Kyuubi obliged as they parted from each other, creating a spot. "Now go sit down," I said firmly to the ex-teacher. She looked at me before she smiled as she gave up before moving to her spot. In turn I grinned and sat myself down between Ifrit and Amy.

"Now let's enjoy ourselves!"


	26. Chapter 26: The Briefing

**Chapter 26: The Briefing**

"Ahhh! We're back!" Shiva sighed as she stretched her arms behind her, inadvertently pushing out her breasts, making male onlookers eyes pop at the sight. The group found themselves in front of the train station.

"We should report to Josh straight away," Bahamut suggested as she closed her eyes and focused on the link connecting her to her summoner. It wasn't well known, but there was a magical link between GF and summoner after the GF was summoned. On the off chance that they became separated and couldn't find each other by normal means, the link acted as a compass that would lead the GF back to the summoner. It was rare that this ability be used, however it was known to happen on occasion. And that was what Bahamut was doing at that moment.

"That way," she said as she pointed to the right, down the main shopping district.

"Well then, let's go. Before Shiva gets swarmed by suitors," Diablos grinned.

The group walked down the street, taking in all the sights and sounds of the city. Several times they overheard the general public and soldiers alike talk about the upcoming announcement from the Sorceress. Eventually they arrived in front of the Galbadia Hotel.

"He's in there somewhere," Bahamut reported. The link wasn't accurate down to the meter so they would need to take a look around.

The five entered and quickly heard familiar voices coming from what looked like the bar and entertainment area. They moved through the entrance hall and into the next room. Shiva quickly saw Ifrit in his human form, as well as all the other GFs that Josh had, including Kyuubi, Sukuna and Hyôrinmaru.

"Oh hey guys! You got here ok?" Ifrit asked as he spotted the group.

"We did, thanks," Shiva replied as they walked over to the gathering. She noticed that Quistis was also here, sitting next to the ice dragon. She looked quite flushed but she couldn't tell if that was the drink she had or for another reason. She then took another look around and realised something.

"Where's Josh?" Shiva asked.

"He went to book a room upstairs. Room 9 on the second level, I believe," Ifrit replied.

"Thanks," she said before turning to her group. "I'll go deliver this to Josh, you guys have fun here."

"Sure thing!" Dante replied loudly before stealthy wrapping his arm around Siren, but she simply pinched the hand hard and dragged it off her shoulder, with Dante yelping in pain.

Shiva left them at that and went in search of the room. After asking directions from the front desk, she made her way up the stairs and over to the room in question.

* * *

I sighed as I stepped out of the shower and began to dry myself off. I thought back to the gathering downstairs, and smiled to myself when I remembered the budding signs of attraction between Quistis and Hyôrinmaru. 'I hope those two work out. They make a great couple,' I thought.

As I was finishing up on drying myself, there came a faint knock. "Must be from the front," I assumed as I hung up the towel and exited the bathroom. I reached out for the doorknob, but quickly realised my state of complete nakedness.

'What if it's a girl?' I thought. Another knock came from the door. "Shit!" I cursed quietly before turning round and bolting for the bathroom again. "Just a second!" I called out as I put on a white bath robe as my new clothes would take too long to put on. Finished with making myself more modest, I returned to the front door and opened it.

"Oh, Shiv! Hey there," I smiled warmly. "Welcome back."

"Uh… uhh…." She replied as she stared at me. I began to get nervous, hoping there wasn't anything of mine sticking out that would be frozen off in the very near future.

A long moment went past. "Soooo, you just gonna stand there out in the hall or are you gonna come in?" I replied as I stepped to the side, quickly looking down at myself and sighing as I saw nothing out of place.

"Uhh, y-yes!" she squeaked before stepping inside quickly. I closed the door.

"So, I'm guessing it was a success?" I asked as I looked at the chipped Galbadian sabre clutched in her hand.

"Yeah," she replied, seeming to snap out of whatever was bothering her. 'Maybe she's embarrassed that I'm only in a bathrobe.'

"You caught me just out of the shower. Let me get dressed, kay? Make yourself comfortable," I explained before I walked into the bedroom and removed my robe. As I put on my new clothes, I heard Shiva sitting down in something. I sighed mentally. 'It's like a classic anime romantic comedy moment. But I know there's no way she'd go for me. Specially since I just learned that I actually _created_ her.' After a few minutes I was ready and I walked out, seeing her in a recliner facing the window showing off the city view.

"Wow! New clothes?" she asked.

"Yeah, the old ones were too flashy. These are just the right amount of flashy and awesome," I grinned and felt it widen as she giggled. I sat down in the chair opposite hers.

"Well, here's the sword with the ID tag on it," Shiva said as she handed me the sword.

"Thanks," I replied before looking over it. "431, eh?" I muttered, the number not ringing a bell in my memories. 'Maybe Irvine knew the guy.'

"And… here's the Brother's GF stone," she added as she held out an earthen brown gem. I picked it up but decided against absorbing it. "I think I'll give these guys to Irvine. He needs a power booster if he's going to keep up with us. I'll also ask Dante to help him out as well."

"Sounds like a good plan," she agreed.

I then checked my iPhone and saw that it was almost time to meet up again. "Well, from what I've learned, Edea's address won't be happening until tomorrow night. I should let the team know that we won't be starting the briefing until tomorrow," I said as I stood up, Shiva doing the same.

* * *

The next 18 hours was spent sleeping before upgrading everyone's weapons for the upcoming battle. Squall now had the Shear Trigger, Zell had the Maverick. Quistis had the Slaying Tail while Selphie had the Morning Star. Rinoa upgraded hers to the Valkyrie however Irvine opted to forgo an upgrade, saying that his Valliant was all he needed for the job.

It was five in the afternoon when we all rocked up to the General's mansion with our new weapons. As before, the lieutenant from before met us in front of entering the mansion. "Did you bring the sword and student ID?" the lieutenant asked.

"Yeah," I replied as I handed him the sword. "ID 431, right?"

"431?" Irvine asked, standing behind me. "That must have been Jackson."

"Jackson?" Squall asked.

"Jackson Edwards," Irvine replied, shaking his head. "Bit of a blowhard, and arrogant as hell. He was around when I first joined… not surprised he's dead. That was the kind of guy who'd walk up to something nasty like a Wendigo or Blood Soul and try to kill it bare-handed. Probably pissed of those Guardian Forces and got what he deserved for being such an ass."

"I take it you didn't like Jackson?" Quistis asked. The sharpshooter shrugged.

"He was one of those total freak patriots," Irvine explained. "The kind who hated anyone who wasn't Galbadian."

"I knew those kinds," Quistis replied. "When I was attending classes at Galbadia Garden, I met too many of them. They didn't like me in particular, because I was from Balamb Garden and because I was a blue magic specialist."

"Heh," Irvine said, chuckling. "You're still talked about there, you know. The only blue magic specialist to have attended Gabadia Garden." Irvine paused, then looked at Quistis curiously. "How do you guys work?"

"Blue magic?" Quistis asked.

"Yeah," Irvine replied. "You said it was inborn." Quistis nodded.

"Not entirely," she explained. "You know how magic is held in different types of objects?" Irvine nodded. "Well, part of the magic in these objects is usable magic, the kind that can be easily refined and used by humans. But part of the magic is difficult to use without proper training and the appropriate knack. Especially in magical objects or parts that you can take from monsters."

"And blue mages can use this magic?" Irvine asked, to which Quistis nodded.

"Blue magic is difficult," she explained. "But some people, like me, we can understand the odd magic better than others and cast it more effectively. Once we've learned how to use the magic, casting it becomes second nature to us."

"Uhhh…" the lieutenant began and we all looked at him, seeing his slightly off look. "I'm sure this is all fascinating, but the General is now expecting you. You can go in now."

"Well good. Bout time," I replied before we moved as a group past the patrol.

Beyond the outer gate, I could make out part of the mansion around the foliage of the heavily wooded grounds, bushes flanking the entry walkway. After a few moments of walking down the stone path, I could more clearly see the huge mansion beyond the plants. The structure looked like far more than the home of a mere general, unless Galbadia paid its higher-up officers a lot more than they paid the regulars.

I turned to see that Squall looked as if he was thinking about something. I moved over to his side and whispered, "What's on your mind?"

He turned his head to me, confusing in his eyes. "Well, it's just that I don't understand why Caraway is allying himself with the Gardens. I started thinking on what he gains from this if Galbadia pays her officers this well." He motioned to the mansion as he said this.

"Well I doubt he's in it for the money. The guy supports the country's well-being," I replied.

"But even so, doesn't he have more than enough clout with the regulars to stage a coup?"

"Maybe he fears a rebellion from the regulars. If Caraway used his influence to overthrow Deling, it would destabilize the future of many in the army. So he might be looking to use an outside force to do the work. In this case, we're the outside force," I replied.

Squall thought about this before nodding, "I understand."

"Squall? Josh?" Rinoa asked quietly from behind. We turned to face her, wondering what she wanted. The rest of the team paused, but Rinoa seemed a bit uncomfortable with them listening.

"Go on ahead guys, we'll catch up in a mo," I said. As they entered the mansion, I turned back to Rinoa.

"Umm," she said uncertainly. "Is… is my contract still in effect?"

"Despite our new orders, our old mission status hasn't been revoked, official or otherwise. So yeah, we're still attached to your orders and to keep you safe," I replied with Squall nodding.

"Whatever you do, don't leave me in this house, okay?" she asked. Squall blinked in surprise at what he probably thought was an odd request, but nodded.

"Do you want me to explain why?" she asked, but Squall shook his head.

"You should know by now," he said. "Just tell us what to do and we'll do it." Rinoa nodded, though I understood her hesitance to give us orders. After her near argument with Squall in Timber, she probably felt guilty giving orders to people who, to some degree, did not feel secure with their client.

"Okay, then," she said quietly, indicating Squall and I should lead the way. "Thanks you guys."

"No probs," I replied before we continued on through the door.

The inside of Carway's mansion was old but beautiful, with panelled wooden walls, rich carpets, finely carved and polished statues, and marble floors. The entry hallway featured a huge chandelier and a massive staircase leading up to the second level of the mansion. A Galbadian soldier met us as we entered and directed us to a guest's waiting room on the second floor, telling us that Caraway would meet with us shortly. Rinoa then led Squall and I to the room, with, I noted, an unusual familiarity with the layout of the mansion. I knew the reason, of course, but I deducted that it must've been puzzling Squall. We spotted more soldiers on the way, doubtless Caraway's bodyguards.

Rinoa led us down a hallway and opened a door on the south side, leading into the guestroom. Quistis was already sitting at an expensive wooden table with equally expensive wooden chairs. Selphie stood at one of the room's huge windows, looking out over the grounds of Caraway's mansion and the busy streets beyond. Zell paced anxiously, while Irvine lounged behind a desk at the far end of the room, feet resting casually atop it, next to his rifle.

We wordlessly sat down at the table, waiting for Caraway to arrive, while Angelo curled up at Rinoa's feet.

We sat, stood, or paced for what seemed like an eternity. After nearly half an hour, I began to lose my patience. 'C'mon! Hurry up! What the hell was taking the old coot so long?'

"Hmph!" Rinoa finally muttered, standing up. "He always does this, making people wait. I'll go see what's taking so long." She turned toward the door, Angelo following. Squall began to follow, but Rinoa stopped him with a raised hand.

"Don't worry, I'm alright," she said, smiling. "Just stay here. I know this house pretty well." She paused for a moment, blushing slightly. "It is mine, after all." Before anyone could respond, Rinoa left the room. However, the shocked look on Zell's face spoke for nearly the entire room.

"Yeah, it makes sense now, that Rinoa is General Fury's daughter," I replied. No one answered me though, still getting over their shock.

It was only a matter of minutes before the door reopened, and a man stepped in. He wasn't very large; in fact, he was shorter than Squall. He had black, greying hair, with one strand dropping across his face, which was shot through with wrinkles and a couple of scars. He wore a buttoned black trench coat, military style, with the left breast studded with rank markers and campaign embroidery. He also featured several multi-coloured bars, used by the Galbadian military in lieu of medals, which were only worn during public ceremonies.

"Greetings," Fury Caraway said to us. "I'm sorry to have delayed you."

"Where's Rinoa?" Squall asked quickly.

"She has not received the training you all have," Caraway explained, almost casually. "She may become an unnecessary burden on you during this mission. Burdens result in screw-ups. Screw-ups get people killed. It is best that she stay out of this operation. She should remain here until the mission is completed."

"That is wise," I replied. Squall looked sharply at me but I just ignored it.

"I'm glad you understand," the General nodded towards me.

"So, are you Rinoa's father?" Selphie asked, turning to face Caraway. The general turned to look at her, a somewhat saddened look on his face.

"I can't remember the last time she called me that," he replied quietly.

"So, the father's a high-ranking general, and the daughter's the head of a rebel faction?" Zell said, not believing the irony. "Man… this is bad! Really bad!"

"Yes, I know," Caraway replied, walking to one of the windows. "But it's not your problem. It's ours." The look on Squall's face clearly told me that he thought otherwise. "Besides," Caraway added. "We have far more important things to worry about." At this point Squall decided to lay things in plain view.

"Once this mission's over, we're working for Rinoa again," Squall explained. "I don't know what the situation between you two is, but when the time comes, don't interfere."

"And if I do?" Caraway asked, turning back to face Squall. Squall scowled, and let his eyes do all the explaining. Nonetheless, Squall added an extra comment.

"We're all SeeDs here," he stated, his voice edged with dangerous tones. "We'll act accordingly." Quistis, Zell, and Selphie nodded in agreement. I simply shook my head, smiling in amusement. Caraway looked between us, started to scowl, but then simply let out a sigh of defeat.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Irvine shouted from his spot at the desk. Thus far, the sharpshooter had been quiet during the discussion, intent on only watching.

"We're here to waste and paste us a Sorceress, right?" Irvine said. With a single smooth motion he pushed himself up out of the chair and over the desk, then sat back against it. He then took out one of his .357 revolvers, twirling it absently. "So let's get down to business."

"I agree. Let's stick to the mission briefing for now. We can argue on who gets Rinoa on holidays and weekends afterwards," I joked. Irvine, Zell, Selphie and most of the GFs in my head laughed in varying degrees at this. Quistis smiled lightly at the quip. Squall, however, blushed lightly before looking down at the ground. In turn I placed my hand on his shoulder and gave him a smile. He hesitated before nodding back.

"Alright," Caraway said. He turned and stepped toward the door. "I have a briefing room set up downstairs. Come, I'll explain the plan."

The briefing room was darkened and quiet, with a long table surrounded by chairs, along with a television projector and large screen. Caraway bid them to sit down, but Squall paused.

"Is this room clean?" he asked, to which Caraway nodded.

"It's the reason why I was late. I performed the sweep myself," he replied. "There are no listening devices anywhere in the room, and I locked it before I came to meet you. We won't be overheard."

I nodded at Squall. "Good call there," I said. He nodded back before I gestured for my team to sit down. We all took our seats, Zell twitching anxiously, while Squall, Selphie, and Quistis sat down more sedately, though their anticipation toward the upcoming mission was visible. Irvine sat down -conspicuously close to Selphie -and propped his feet up on the table. I wasn't as casual in how I sat as Irvine, but I was relaxed, though my eyes showed that I was focused on the upcoming briefing.

Caraway turned on the projector, and then spun to face us. The screen was a blank, dark blue, casting the light across the room.

"I'm sure you are all aware of the alliance Deling has struck with the Sorceress Edea, correct?"

"That we have," I replied. Since this was the first time Edea's name had been brought up since we were issued the orders, I took a discreet look around. Squall, Zell, Selphie, and Quistis all seemed distantly familiar with the name, however only Irvine looked confused, shown by a furrowed brow.

"There will be a ceremony tonight to commemorate the event of her ascension," Caraway continued. "It will be held at the Presidential Palace." Caraway held up a remote and clicked a button. The projection screen changed from a uniform blue to showing the avenue outside the Presidential Palace. A wide, semi-circular paved section of road sat directly in front of the gates. The major avenues around the city met at the eastern and western end of the huge semi-circle, and the street bisecting the city ran off the top of its southern arc, leading directly through the huge archway in the centre of the city.

"During the ceremony, you will be split into two teams, the sniper team and the gate team," Caraway continued. "Each is equally important. The gate team will enter the central arch and move to the second floor. The sniper team will wait outside the Presidential Palace during the ceremony." Caraway directed a laser pointer at a spot along the sidewalk of the area outside the Palace, at an inconspicuous location across the street. "There. That is where the sniper team will be positioned. Once the ceremony ends a parade will begin and the outer gates will open. That is when the sniper team will enter. Do not cause any commotion before the parade begins. Security is tight, and the parade may be cancelled if there is a disturbance.

"Once the parade begins, it will attract the attention of the crowds and guards," Caraway continued. "If you're quick, you can slip into the gates unnoticed. The sniper team will then have to find a way onto the roof. Once there, you should find a corridor that has a hatch which will lead you into a concealed clock tower. Inside the tower is a carousel clock, where you will find a sniper rifle. The sniper team is to stand by until exactly 20:00 hours."

Caraway directed his laser pointer back onto the screen, at the gates of the Palace.

"The parade will begin at the gate, and the Sorceress will be riding a large parade vehicle. After it leaves the gate, it will turn left." Caraway indicated down the left street from the Palace gates. "It will then circle around the city along the outer road before turning right at the road in front of the train station. Then, it will travel down the central avenue back to the Palace, where it is supposed to turn left and do the same down the right avenue."

Caraway pointed up that road.

"On the way back it will pass through the gate. This is where the gate team comes into play. They will enter through a door inside the arch prior to the parade and move to the second floor. At exactly 20:00 hours, the vehicle will pass beneath this gate. At that moment, the gate team is to operate a mechanism that will drop the gates, trapping the Sorceress. At that same moment, the carousel clock will rise out of the clock tower, due to reprogramming the computers controlling it. The sniper team will be in perfect firing position. Take the shot, and kill her."

The briefing finished, Caraway looked over the group.

"That is all. You will need to form teams for this mission. The sniper, the mission leader and one other team member will form the sniper team. The leader's role is vital: if the mission should somehow fail, or if the sniper should miss-" Irvine snorted at that "-then the leader must carry out a direct assault on the Sorceress. The mission was designed very carefully, and was intended as a covert operation. However, our objective is the elimination of the Sorceress at all costs. Even if they should discover our identities."

I looked around to see that everyone understood. I turned back to the Caraway. "I guess I'll be leading the operation. Squall will accompany me and Irvine as the sniper unit." Squall nodded at this.

"Very well then," Caraway said. "I'll leave the rest to you. Good luck." He nodded to us and left the room.

"Righteo. Gate team will be-" I began and smiled as the three in question cut me off.

"Whoo-hoo!" Selphie cheered.

"Let's do it!" Zell said with a thumbs up and pumping fist.

"Roger," Quistis added with a nod.

"We'll need a leader for the gate team," Selphie added. "Who will it be?"

"Well that'll be Quistis, of course," I replied. She blinked in surprise, then quickly saluted. Behind her, Zell's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Zell… no sulking, ok?" I asked.

"I know… it's just," he began but I cut him off.

"Just nothing. You don't have the right mindset for command. You're too brash and impulsive. Same goes for you Selphie. You belong on the front lines, so to speak. I'm not saying you two suck. In terms of ability, power and magical affinity, you're both stronger than Quistis. However she's calm and collected, and can think out a plan if things go awry without losing her head, or just charging headlong into the fray. You understand?"

Zell blinked as he absorbed all this before he nodded. "You're right. I'm more of a doer than a thinker." Selphie giggled at this before she grinned and nodded at me.

"All right!" Quistis responded with a genuine smile. "Leave it to me."

"Glad that's taken care of. Well, we should get ready."

We returned to the guest room to pick up our gear and prepare for the upcoming mission. Outside, the crowds had already begun to gather in the streets, so Squall, Irvine and I left early to ensure we would be in position.

As we left the mansion, I started thinking about the quarrel between Quistis and Rinoa. I fully supported Quistis's side. Changing the plan now when one was already in place was stupid, especially since there was no time for adjustments and no changes to the conditions. But Rinoa was completely innocent and ignorant of military tactics and strategy. I couldn't blame her thinking, no matter how idiotic it was in reasoning.

"Ok, Squall, you'll lead the charge if a direct assault is needed. I'll fly high overhead and land next to the gates when you get there, ok?" I said.

"Understood," he replied.

"That won't be necessary," Irvine replied with a smile. "I'll get the job done."

"It's just a contingency," I reminded him.

We moved through the park across the street from Caraway's mansion. The crowds were getting thick, and squads of Galbadian soldiers with riot shields and batons were herding the crowds around the palace. The park provided a good shortcut to point A of our side of the plan.

"So Squall, isn't it true SeeDs aren't supposed to question their mission?" Irvine asked.

"You should know, aren't you one?" Squall asked as we stepped onto a stone path running across the park.

"Just curious. Trying to get a different view from someone from another Garden," Irvine replied before turning to me. "So, how does Balamb Garden's SeeD think about the mission?"

"While SeeDs are mercs on the surface, Headmaster Cid seems to guide his cadets and SeeDs in the direction of morally judging their decisions and orders. He didn't subscribe to the notion that his mercenaries are nothing more than weapons-for-hire. It's like Cid is hoping for more from his troops than simply a financial direction."

"Wow… you got all that from just a few days with them?" Irvine asked.

"Yeah, I guess," I replied. "However the faculty stationed there seem only to care about the money and that the cadets there are trained in ways to get that money the best possible way. It's why they're so strict with rules and stuff. Though it's no-where near as bad as G-Garden."

"Well, sounds nice, in any case," he replied.

"Well there's no way we would've gotten so good at firearms if we started from there anyways," I smirked, taking Oblivion from the holster and spinning it cowboy like before sliding the gun back into the holster. "C'mon, we're almost in position," I added as we exited the park and neared our location.


End file.
